Peter Mclaren

http://www.humannaturemag.com/editions/1_07/che.html

Here the informaton:
http://www.equitysocialjustice.org/proposals.cfm

April 26, 2008
The Richard Stockton College of New Jersey
Pomona, NJ
Call For Proposals

Call for Proposals
Due date:
All proposals are due on or before February 1, 2008.
There will be no extensions past this due date. Notification by email of accepted proposals will be on or before March 1, 2008.
Online form will be available October 1, 2007
This conference will examine and share ideas, projects, research and instructional strategies that surround the topic of equity and social justice in education.
We encourage proposals from teacher educators, K-12 teachers, college and university-based researchers and practitioners, university students and school-based administrators.
Submissions focusing upon the following areas will be received for review:
Successful teaching and learning strategies
theoretical/conceptual ideas which may include philosophical and historical examinations
Empirical research
Administrative initiatives geared to promoting equity and multiculturalism
Technology use in promoting equity and social justice ongoing research
Presenters may choose to present using a panel format, in a workshop design, or as an individual presentation.

THE MORNING BRIEF
By JOSEPH SCHUMAN

Placing the Jena Six In a National Debate
September 21, 2007 7:10 a.m.

If the New Orleans victims of Katrina became a 21st century object
lesson in America’s long debate over poverty and racism, the Jena Six
and a protest march on their behalf in northern Louisiana yesterday
may come to symbolize racial disparity in the criminal-justice
system.

State police put attendance at yesterday’s demonstration at 15,000 to
20,000, though organizers said a much larger crowd came to march at
Jena, a town whose official population is roughly 2,800, according to
the Associated Press. The protests, far more peaceful and even
festive compared to the Civil Rights marches four decades earlier,
were led by a familiar cast of activists who included Jesse Jackson
and Al Sharpton. The focus of their outrage was the treatment of six
high school students, and a dispute that began under a tree. In
August of last year, a black student at Jena High School asked the
principal if he could sit under a shade tree where white students
usually congregated. He was told yes, but two nooses were hung from
the tree the next day. As tension escalated, the school held an
emergency assembly, where, according to black students, LaSalle
Parish District Attorney Reed Walters warned students he could “take
away their lives with a stroke of my pen,” as the New Orleans
Times-Picayune reports. Mr. Walters denies he made the remark.

A short time later, six black students allegedly beat a white student
unconscious in a schoolyard fight. And though the victim of that
fight was well enough to attend a school function that night, five of
his teenage assailants were booked on charges of attempted murder.
The charges were eventually reduced amid pressure from critics, and
Mychal Bell, the first to be tried, was convicted this summer of
aggravated battery and conspiracy to commit the crime. But a judge
threw out the latter charge, and an appeals court last week ruled Mr.
Bell shouldn’t have been charged as an adult in the first place
because he was 16 years old at the time of the fight. Mr. Walters has
said he will appeal that ruling the state Supreme Court. And as the
New York Times reports, even as demonstrators were marching
yesterday, Mr. Bell remained in jail despite a court’s order for his
release. Mr. Walters has said race has nothing to do with the
charges.

The gist of protesters’ complaints is that in a town that is 85%
white, Mr. Bell and the other defendants were unfairly prosecuted
while the white students who hung the nooses received only in-school
suspension as punishment. But many participants said they were hoping
to draw attention to similar racial inequality in the justice system
throughout the country. “There’s Jenas in Atlanta, there’s Jenas in
New York, there’s Jenas in Florida, and there are Jenas all over
Texas,” Mr. Sharpton told the protesters, as the Washington Post
reports. And whether Jena becomes the latest geographic symbol in the
debate, some of the town’s residents shared Mr. Sharpton’s sentiment.
“They have cast us a bunch of ignorant, racist bumpkins,” Ray Hodges,
an automotive technology teacher at Jena High School, tells the Los
Angeles Times. “It’s about as far from the truth as you can get.
There is racism in Jena, but it’s not only in Jena, it’s not only in
Louisiana, it’s not only in the South. It’s an American thing.”

NY Times, September 19, 2007
In Louisiana, a Tree, a Fight and a Question of Justice
By RICHARD G. JONES

JENA, La., Sept. 18 — They called it the White Tree. Not because of the
color of its leaves or tint of its bark, but because of the kind of
people who typically sat beneath its shade here at Jena High School.

And when a black student tried to defy that tradition by sitting under
the tree last September, it set off a series of events that have turned
this town of 3,000 in central Louisiana’s timber country into a
flashpoint over the issue of racial bias in the criminal justice system.

Three nooses quickly appeared on the tree a day after the black student
sat under it, and not long afterward, the authorities said a white
student had been beaten by six black schoolmates. The white student was
treated at a local hospital and released; the black students were
charged, not with assault, but with attempted murder.

Local civil rights groups objected to what they saw as a throwback to
the worst kind of Deep South justice, and that protest has escalated
into a nationwide campaign, through Web sites, bulk e-mail and instant
messages, black radio stations and YouTube. The effort will reach its
peak on Thursday, when thousands are expected to demonstrate here
against what they say is the unfair treatment of the black students, who
have come to be known as the Jena Six.

Lawyers involved in the case say the attention that the teenagers have
received has prompted prosecutors to reduce some of the charges against
the youths. And last Friday, an appeals court tossed out the conviction
of the only student who has been tried in the case.

Even as Jena (pronounced GEE-nuh) girds itself for Thursday’s
demonstration, the town — which has already undergone a measure of
soul-searching since the case began — finds itself divided sharply over
precisely what the case says about their town and themselves.

“Every year at Jena High School there’s a black-and-white fight,” said
Casa Compton, 26, a Jena native, who is black. “It’s always been tense.
There’s always been prejudice and bigotry here. Every day they’re
throwing away a black man’s life down here.”

But Tina Norris, 45, owner of the Café Martin restaurant, said she was
amazed at the kind of publicity her town was now receiving.

“They make it sound like the whole town of Jena is just one big K.K.K.
rally,” said Ms. Norris, who is white. “It isn’t. We don’t have a lot of
problems here. This is just a small town.”

Critics of how the case has been handled argue that the treatment of the
black students is evidence of the persistence of corrosive attitudes
about race and crime.

“I think a lot of people recognize that the criminal justice system
grinds down people of color every day,” said J. Richard Cohen, president
of the Southern Poverty Law Center, the civil rights group based in
Montgomery, Ala. “Oftentimes, it’s nameless, it’s faceless. We know the
story in a generic way but not specifically. People see Jena as the tip
of the iceberg and ask, ‘What lies beneath?’ ”

The legal case began on Dec. 4, when the authorities said that the black
youths — Robert Bailey Jr., 17; Jesse Beard, 15; Mychal Bell, 17; Carwin
Jones, 18; Bryant Purvis, 17; and Theo Shaw, 17 — beat a white classmate
in a confrontation outside the school gymnasium. The charges of
attempted murder have been scaled back to offenses like aggravated
battery and conspiracy, of which Mr. Bell was convicted on June 28.

Last Friday, an appeals court found that Mr. Bell had been improperly
tried in adult court on the battery charge and threw out that
conviction. Another judge tossed out the conspiracy conviction earlier
this month. School officials cut down the tree.

Reed Walters, the district attorney of LaSalle Parish, did not respond
to requests for comment.

Mr. Bell is still being held in jail while prosecutors deliberate
whether to file new charges against him in juvenile court. The case of
Mr. Bell — the only one of the six who has been jailed since the fight
in December — has struck a chord among many who have followed the case.

“In Jena, for those who have been under the illusion that changes have
occurred, this is a wake-up call,” the Rev. Jesse Jackson, founder of
Operation PUSH/Rainbow Coalition and an organizer of Thursday’s rally,
said in a phone interview, comparing the case to seminal moments like
the Montgomery bus boycott that began in 1955.

College students have been a driving force in promoting the Jena case,
and some of those who study race relations say that it has galvanized a
generation that is often criticized by veterans of the social activist
movement as being too complacent.

“What my students say is, ‘It could be any one of us that could be in
this predicament,’ ” said Jas Sullivan, a political scientist at
Louisiana State University. “What I see in their eyes is that this could
happen to them.”

But even here in Jena, there is a sense of perspective and nuance about
the case that is often lost in the larger debate. There are white
people, too, who say the teenagers should have been tried in juvenile
court, and many blacks who insist that the teenagersshould be punished
if they committed a crime, though in juvenile court.

On Tuesday, Mr. Bell’s parents, Marcus Jones and Melissa Bell, and the
mother of Mr. Purvis, Tina Jones, were approached by the Rev. P. A.
Paul, 78, who is white and said he was a minister at a local Baptist
church. A shouting match ensued when he dismissed the hanging of nooses
as “kid’s play.”

“I’ve hung nooses around my neck as a child,” he said.

“Well, you didn’t pull it tight enough,” Ms. Jones shot back.

After the two sides were separated, Mr. Bell’s parents said their son
was hoping to be freed from jail soon and resume a high school football
career.

“But when he gets out, we’re moving out of Jena,” Ms. Bell said.

—-

Thousands Expected to March in Jena to Protest Pending Charges Against
High School Students

http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=07/09/18/1359255

News Release

PROJECT CENSORED
Sonoma State University
1801 E. Cotati Avenue
Rohnert Park, CA 94928-3609
(707) 664-2500
e-mail: censored @sonoma.edu

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

September 5, 2007

Contact: Project Censored 707-664-2500

Project Censored Releases Censored 2008 and its pick of the 25 most
important under-covered news stories of 2006-07

Project Censored announces its selection of the Top Censored News
Stories of the 2006-2007 cycle. Each year since 1976, hundreds of
student researchers, faculty, and volunteer members come together to
select the most important news stories that were under-covered, glossed
over or ignored by the country’s major media outlets.

The 25 stories make up the first chapter of the Censored 2008 yearbook
published by Seven Stories press. Following chapters provide updates on
previous stories, review the growth of grass roots Media Democracy, the
year’s Junk Food News, and Ten Signs of Hope that corporate media
ignored. Censored 2008 also offers real news about internet freedom,
images of the war, and the impact of Big Media on children.

With an introduction by Dennis Loo and the political cartoon commentary
of John Jonik throughout, this year’s book covers some of the most
critical issues facing the American people today. The Top 25 stories
focus on issues such as civil rights, politics, economics, foreign
policy, food and health, the environment, energy, domestic policy, and
the military.

“Corporate media in the United States are interested primarily in
entertainment news to feed their bottom-line priorities,” states Peter
Phillips, Director of the Project. “Some of the most important news
stories that should reach the American public falls on the cutting room
floor to be replaced by sex-scandals and celebrity updates.”

The Sonoma State University research group is composed of over 200
faculty, students and community experts who review hundreds of story
submissions for coverage, content, reliability of sources and national
significance. The top 25 stories are submitted to a panel of judges who
then rank them in order of importance. Current and former judges
include Michael Parenti, Cynthia McKinney, Howard Zinn, Noam Chomsky,
and 20 other national journalists, scholars and writers.

Censored 2008, now available in bookstores nationwide, can also be
purchased on the project’s website at www.projectcensored.org.

Project Censored will host the award winning authors of the Censored
2008 stories at the second annual Media Accountability Conference
October 26-27 at Sonoma State University. Conference Information on line
at: http://www.projectcensored.org/conference/07MAConf.htm

Censored 2008 was edited by Peter Phillips and Andrew Roth professors of
Sociology at Sonoma State University.

For on-air interviews contact publicist interns:
Margo Tyack: tyack@sonoma.edu
Gabrielle Robinson: GabrielleCMrobinson@hotmail.com

A statement on contemporary censorship in the US written by Peter
Phillips follows below:

Top Censored Stories of 2006-2007

#1 No Habeas Corpus for “Any Person”

The Military Commissions Act of 2006 (MCA) ushered in military
commission law for US citizens and non-citizens alike. Text in the MCA
allows for the institution of a military alternative to the
constitutional justice system for “any person” arbitrarily deemed to be
an enemy of the state, regardless of American citizenship.

“Who Is ‘Any Person’ in Tribunal Law?” Robert Parry, Consortium, 10/19/2006

http://consortiumnews.com/2006/101906.html

“Still No Habeas Rights for You” Robert Parry, Consortium, 2/3/2007

http://consortiumnews.com/2007/020307.html

“Repeal the Military Commissions Act and Restore the Most American Human
Right” Thom Hartmann, Commondreams, 2/12/2007

http://www.commondreams.org/views07/0212-24.htm

#2 Bush Moves Toward Martial Law

The John Warner Defense Authorization Act of 2007 allows the
president to deploy military troops anywhere in the United States and
take control of state-based National Guard units without the consent of
the governor or local authorities in order to “suppress public disorder.”

“Bush Moves Toward Martial Law” Frank Morales, Uruknet, 10/ 26/2006

http://www.uruknet.info/?p=27769

#3 AFRICOM: US Military Control of Africa’s Resources

In February 2007 the White House announced the formation of the
US African Command (AFRICOM), a unified Pentagon command center in
Africa. Presented as a humanitarian guard in the Global War on Terror,
the real objective is procurement and control of Africa’s oil and its
global delivery systems.

“Understanding AFRICOM” Parts 1-3, b real, MoonofAlabama.org 2/21/2007

http://www.moonofalabama.org/2007/02/understanding_a_1.html

#4 Frenzy of Increasingly Destructive Trade Agreements

The US and European Union (EU) are vigorously pursuing
increasingly destructive trade and investment agreements outside the
auspices of the WTO, resulting in unprecedented exploitation, loss of
livelihood, displacement, and degradation of human rights and environments.

“Signing Away The Future” Emily Jones, Oxfam, 3/2007

http://www.oxfam.org/en/policy/briefingpapers/bp101_regional_trade_agreements_0703

“Free Trade Enslaving Poor Countries” Sanjay Suri, IPS coverage of Oxfam
Report, 3/20/2007 http://ipsnews.org/news.asp?idnews=37008

#5 Human Traffic Builds US Embassy in Iraq

The enduring monument to US liberation and democracy in Iraq is
being built by forced labor. Contractors subcontracting to the US State
Department are using bait-and-switch recruiting practices to smuggle
Asian workers into brutal and inhumane labor camps—in the middle of the
US-controlled Green Zone.

“A U.S. Fortress Rises in Baghdad: Asian Workers Trafficked to Build
World’s Largest Embassy” David Phinney, CorpWatch, 10/17/2006

http://www.corpwatch.org/article.php?id=14173

#6 Operation FALCON Raids

Under Operation FALCON—Federal and Local Cops Organized
Nationally—more than 30,000 “fugitives” were arrested in the largest
dragnets in the nation’s history. Over 960 state, local and federal
agencies were directly involved. Only promotional coverage supplied by
the DOJ was ever aired. We have yet to be told who these fugitives were
and what became of them.

“Operation Falcon and the Looming Police State” Mike Whitney, Ukernet,
2/26/2007 http://uruknet.info/?p=m30971&s1=h1

“Operation Falcon” SourceWatch, Updated 11/18/2006

http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Operation_FALCON

#7 Behind Blackwater Inc.

Blackwater, the most powerful mercenary firm in the world, is the
company that most embodies the privatization of the military industrial
complex. Bush’s contracts with Blackwater have allowed the creation of a
private army of more than 20,000 soldiers, operating with almost no
oversight or effective legal constraints, to deploy in nine countries
and aggressively expand its presence inside US borders.

“Our Mercenaries in Iraq: Blackwater Inc and Bush’s Undeclared Surge”
Jeremy Scahill, Democracy Now! 1/26/07
http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=07/01/26/1559232

#8 KIA: The US Neoliberal Invasion of India

The Knowledge Initiative in Agriculture, quietly signed by Bush
and India’s Prime Minister Singh, trades India’s agricultural sector for
US nuclear technology. The KIA allows for the grab of India’s seed
sector by Monsanto, its trade sector by giant agribusiness ADM and
Cargill, and its retail sector by Wal-Mart.

“Vandana Shiva on Farmer Suicides, the U.S.-India Nuclear Deal,
Wal-Mart in India” Democracy Now! 12/13/2006
http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=06/12/13/1451229

“Genetically Modified Seeds: Women in India take on Monsanto” Arun
Shrivastava, Global Research, 10/9/06

http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=viewArticle&code=ARU20061009&articleId=3427

“Sowing Trouble: India’s ‘Second Green Revolution’” Suman Sahai,
SciDev.Net, 5/9/06

http://www.scidev.net/content/opinions/eng/sowing-trouble-indias-second-green-revolution.cfm

#9 Privatization of America’s Infrastructure

More than 20 states have enacted legislation allowing
public-private partnerships to build and run highways. We will soon be
paying Wall Street investors, Australian bankers, and Spanish
contractors for the privilege of driving on American roads.

“The Highwaymen” Daniel Schulman with James Ridgeway. Mother Jones, 2/2007

http://www.motherjones.com/news/feature/2007/01/highwaymen.html

“Bush Administration Quietly Plans NAFTA Super Highway” Jerome R. Corsi,
Human Events, 6/12/2006 http://www.humanevents.com/article.php?id=15497

#10 Vulture Funds Threaten Debt Relief for Poor Nations

Vulture funds, as defined by the IMF, are companies that buy up the debt
of poor nations cheaply, when it is about to be written off, and then
sue for the full value of the debt plus interest—which might be ten
times what they paid for it. Otherwise known as “distressed-debt
investors,” these companies profit off plunging impoverished nations
into crippling debt.

“Vulture Fund Threat to Third World” Greg Palast with Meirion Jones for
BBC Newsnight, 02/14/2007

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article17070.htm

#11 The Scam of “Reconstruction” in Afghanistan

Much of the US tax money earmarked to rebuild Afghanistan
actually ends up going no further than the pockets of wealthy US
corporations. Paychecks for overpriced, and often incompetent, American
“experts” under contract to USAID go directly from the Agency to
American bank accounts. Seventy percent of the aid that does make it to
a recipient country is carefully “tied” to the donor nation for further
fraud and exploitation.

“Why It’s Not Working in Afghanistan” Ann Jones, Tomdispatch.com, 8/27/06

http://www.tomdispatch.com/index.mhtml?pid=116512

“Afghanistan Inc: a CorpWatch Investigative Report” Fariba Nawa,
CorpWatch, 10/6/06 http://www.corpwatch.org/article.php?id=13518

#12 Another Massacre in Haiti by UN Troops

On December 22, 2006 more than 30 unarmed Haitian civilians,
including women and children, were killed by extensive and
indiscriminate gunfire from UN “peacekeeping” forces, reportedly as
collective punishment for a massive demonstration days earlier calling
for the return of President Aristide.

“UN in Haiti: Accused of Second Massacre” Haiti Information Project,
Haiti Action, 1/21/2007

http://www.haitiaction.net/News/HIP/1_21_7/1_21_7.html

“Haiti: Poor Residents of Capital Describe a State of Siege” Wadner
Pierre and Jeb Sprague, IPS, 2/28/07

http://ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=36772

#13 Immigrant Roundups to Gain Cheap Labor for US Corporate Giants

In the wake of 9/11, Immigration Customs Enforcement has
conducted raids and roundups of “illegal” immigrants under the rubric of
preventing terrorism and keeping our homeland safe. The real goal,
however, is to replace the immigrant work force in the US with a tightly
regulated, exploitive guest-worker program.

“Migrants: Globalization’s Junk Mail?” Laura Carlsen, Foreign Policy in
Focus, 2/23/07 http://www.fpif.org/fpiftxt/4022

“Which Side are You on?” David Bacon, Truthout, 1/29/07
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/012907L.shtml

“Workers, Not Guests” David Bacon, The Nation, 2/6/07
http://www.truthout.org/issues_06/020607LB.shtml

#14 Impunity for US War Criminals

A last minute adjustment to the Military Commission Act of 2006
redefined torture, removed the harshest definition of war crimes, and
exempts the perpetrators from prosecution for such offences dating back
to November 1997. The source of this provision is, however, a mystery.
The White House denies any involvement or knowledge regarding the
insertion of such language into the MCA.

“A Senate mystery keeps torture alive, and its practitioners free” Jeff
Stein, Congressional Quarterly, 11/ 22/06

http://public.cq.com/public/20061122_homeland.html

#15 Toxic Exposure Can Be Genetically Transmitted to Future Generations

Research suggests that our behavior and our environmental
conditions may program sections of our children’s DNA. New evidence
about how genes interact with the environment suggests that many
industrial chemicals may be more ominously dangerous than previously
thought. One researcher points to a revolution in medicine: “You aren’t
eating and exercising just for yourself, but for your lineage.”

“Some Chemicals are More Harmful Than Anyone Ever Suspected” Peter
Montague, Rachel’s Democracy & Health News #876, 10/12/06
http://www.precaution.org/lib/06/ht061012.htm

#16 No Hard Evidence Connecting Bin Laden to 9/11

Osama bin Ladin’s role in the events of September 11, 2001 is not
mentioned on the FBI’s “Ten Most Wanted” notice. Six years later the FBI
spokesperson explains, “The reason 9/11 is not mentioned on Osama bin
Laden’s Most Wanted page is because the FBI has no hard evidence
connecting bin Laden to 9/11…”

“FBI says, ‘No hard evidence connecting Bin Laden to 9/11’” Ed Haas,
Muckraker Report, 6/6/06

http://www.teamliberty.net/id267.html

#17 Drinking Water Contaminated by Military and Corporations

Corporations, municipalities, and the US military are using
America’s waters as their dumping ground —often with little or no
accountability. The average major facility discharges pollutants in
excess of its permitted limit by over 275 percent, nearly four times the
legal limit, while more than 40 percent of US waterways are already
unsafe for swimming and fishing,

“Factories, Cities Across USA Exceed Water Pollution Limits” Sunny
Lewis, Environment News Service 3/24/2006

http://www.ens-newswire.com/ens/mar2006/2006-03-24-05.asp

“Military Waste In Our Drinking Water” Sunaura Taylor and Astra Taylor,

AlterNet, 8/4/2006 http://www.alternet.org/envirohealth/39723/

#18 Mexico’s Stolen Election

US interests were significantly invested in the outcome of
Mexico’s 2006 presidential election in which overwhelming evidence
reveals massive fraud.

“Evidence of Election Fraud Grows in México,” Chuck Collins and Joshua
Holland, AlterNet, 8/2/2006 http://www.alternet.org/story/39763

“Mexico: The Political Volcano Rumbles” Revolution, 9/10/06
http://revcom.us/a/060/mexico-volcano-en.html

#19 People’s Movement Challenges Neo-Liberal Agenda

In Latin America, massive opposition to US economic domination
has demanded that populist leaders and parties take control of national
governments, building powerful alternatives to neo-liberal exploitation.

“Is the US Free Trade Model Losing Steam?” American Friends Service
Committee, Trade Matters, 5/3/06

http://www.afsc.org/trade-matters/trade-agreements/LosingSteam.htm

“Economic Policy Changes With New Latin American Leaders” Mark Weisbrot,
International Herold Tribune, 12/28/06
http://www.cepr.net/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=773&Itemid=45

“Is Hugo Chaves a Threat to Stability? No.” Mark Weisbrot,
International Affairs Forum, 3/31/07

http://www.cepr.net/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1102&Itemid=45

#20 Terror Act Against Animal Activists

The Animal Enterprise Terrorism Act of 2006 expanded the
definition of “terrorism” to include acts that interfere, or promote
interference, with the operation of an animal enterprise. Over 160
groups opposed this Act on grounds that its terminology is dangerously
vague and poses major conflict to the US Constitution.

“The AETA is Invidiously Detrimental to the Animal Rights Movement (and
Unconstitutional as Well)” David Hoch and Odette Wilkens, Vermont
Journal of Environmental Law, 3/9/07

http://www.vjel.org/editorials/2007S/Hoch.Wilkens.Editorial.htm

“US House Passes Animal Enterprise Terrorism Act With Little Discussion
or Dissent” Will Potter, Green is the New Red, 11/14/06
http://www.greenisthenewred.com/blog/2006/11/13/aeta-passes-house-recap/

“22 Years for Free-Speech Advocates: Six Animal Rights Activists Given
Lengthy Prison Sentences for Running Website” Budgerigar, Earth First!
Journal, 11/06 http://www.earthfirstjournal.org/article.php?id=6

#21 US Seeks WTO Immunity for Illegal Farm Payments

The July 2006 Doha round of WTO negotiations broke down over the
contentious issue of farm trade and the unrestricted opening of markets
to agricultural products. In a last-minute proposal, one not included on
the original agenda, the US insisted that all trade agreements include a
special “Peace Clause” that would make its use of illegal farm subsidies
immune from prosecution by the countries affected.

“Canada launches WTO case on US subsidies” Eoin Callan, Financial Times,
1/9/2007

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/5debac74-9f9b-11db-9e2e-0000779e2340.html

“US seeks “get-out clause” for illegal farm payments” Oxfam, 6/29/2006

http://www.oxfam.org/en/news/pressreleases2006/pr060629_wto_geneva

#22 North Invades Mexico

The number of North Americans living in Mexico has soared from
200,000 to 1 million (one-quarter of all US expatriates) in the past
decade. With more than 70 million American baby-boomers expected to
retire in the next two decades, experts predict “a tidal wave” of
migration. The land rush is sending up property values to the detriment
of locals whose children are consequently driven into slums or forced to
emigrate north.

“Border Invaders: The Perfect Swarm Heads South” Mike Davis,
TomDispatch.com, 9/19/2006

http://www.tomdispatch.com/index.mhtml?pid=122537

#23 Feinstein’s Conflict of Interest in Iraq

Dianne Feinstein is involved in monumental conflicts of interest
as she promotes and exploits the Global War on Terror. As a member of
the Military Construction Appropriations subcommittee, Senator Feinstein
voted for appropriations worth billions of dollars to her husband’s
military construction firms, while consistently voting to fund US
military proliferation.

“Senator Feinstein’s Iraq Conflict” Peter Byrne, Bohemian, 1/24/2007
http://www.bohemian.com/metro/01.24.07/dianne-feinstein-0704.html

#24 Media Misquotes Threat From Iran’s President

A mistranslated quotation attributed to Iran’s President
Ahmadinejad, which threatened that, “Israel must be wiped off the map,”
has been spread around the world. Ahmadinejad’s actual statements,
however, were significantly less threatening.

“‘Wiped Off The Map’ - The Rumor of the Century” Arash Norouzi,
MohammadMossadegh.com, Global Research, 1/20/2007
http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=viewArticle&code=NOR20070120&articleId=4527

“Full Text: The President of Iran’s Letter To President Bush” Translated
by Le Monde, Information Clearing House, 05/09/06
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article12984.htm

#25 Who Will Profit From Native Energy?

The US government and energy industry intend to market a shift
away from dependence on foreign energy by deregulating and stepping up
their exploitation (“development”) of wind and solar resources located
on Native American reservations.

“Native Energy Futures” Brian Awehali, Lip Magazine, 6/5/06
http://www.lipmagazine.org/articles/featawehali_nativefutures.htm

Statement by Project Censored Director Peter Phillips Regarding the
Importance of the 2008 Censored Stories and the Nature of Censorship Today.

We need to broaden our understanding of censorship in the US. No longer
is the dictionary definition of direct government control of news
adequate. The private corporate media in the US significantly undercover
and/or deliberately censor numerous important news stories every year.

The systemic erosion of human rights and civil liberties, in the US, is
the common theme of many of the most censored stories of 2006-07.

The corporate media last year ignored that habeas corpus can now be
suspended for anyone by order of the President. With the approval of
Congress, the Military Commissions Act (MCA) of 2006, signed by Bush on
October 17, 2006, allows for the suspension of habeas corpus for US
citizens and non-citizens alike. While media, including a lead editorial
in the New York Times October 19, 2006, have given false comfort that
American citizens will not be the victims of the measures legalized by
this Act, the law is quite clear that ‘any person’ can be targeted. The
text in the MCA allows for the institution of a military alternative to
the constitutional justice system for “any person” regardless of
American citizenship. The MCA effectively does away with habeas corpus
rights for all people living in the US deemed by the President to be
enemy combatants.

Laws enacted last year allowing the government to more easily institute
martial law is another civil liberties story ignored by the corporate
media in 2006-07. The John Warner Defense Authorization Act of 2007
allows the president to station military troops anywhere in the United
States and take control of state-based National Guard units without the
consent of the governor or local authorities, in order to “suppress
public disorder.” The law in effect repealed the Posse Comitatus Act,
which had placed strict prohibitions on military involvement in domestic
law enforcement in the US since just after the Civil War.

Additionally, under the code-name Operation FALCON (Federal and Local
Cops Organized Nationally) three federally coordinated mass arrests
occurred between April 2005 and October 2006. In an unprecedented move,
more than 30,000 “fugitives” were arrested in the largest dragnets in
the nation’s history. The operations, coordinated by the Justice
Department and Homeland Security, directly involved over 960 agencies
(state, local and federal) and are the first time in US history that all
of the domestic police agencies have been put under the direct control
of the federal government.

Finally, the term “terrorism” has been dangerously expanded to include
any acts that interfere, or promote interference with the operations of
animal enterprises. The Animal Enterprise Terrorism Act (AETA), signed
into law on November 27, 2006 expands the definition of an “animal
enterprise” to any business that “uses or sells animals or animal
products.” The law essentially makes many protesters, boycotters or
picketers of businesses in the US potential terrorists.

Most people in the US believe in our Bill of Rights and value personal
freedoms. Yet, our corporate media in the past year failed to inform us
about serious changes in our civil rights and liberties. Despite our
busy lives we want to be informed about serious decisions made by the
powerful and rely on the corporate media to keep us abreast of important
changes. When a media fails to cover these issues, what else can we call
it but censorship?

A broader definition of censorship in America today needs to include any
interference, deliberate or not, with the free flow of vital news
information to the American people. With the size of the major media
giants in the US, there is no excuse for consistently missing major news
stories that affect all our lives.

Peter Phillips e-mail: peter.phillips@sonoma.edu
Andrew Roth e-mail: rotha@sonoma.edu

Project Censored
Sonoma State University
1801 East Cotati Ave.
Rohnert Park, CA 94928
(707) 664-2500

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http://www.tamilnation.org/terrorism/index.htm

read it now at www.mwcnews.net/content/view/16521/42
DIVERSITY AND SOCIAL JUSTICE
By Ben Tanosborn

Horowitz’ singular pluralism

I must confess that until mid-April 2003, the only Horowitz that quickly came to mind for me was the notable Russian pianist… then dead for 14 years. His name was Vladimir, definitely not David. But it was an email from one of the many pro-war critics who’d read my assiduous denunciation of Iraq’s invasion and occupation that invited me in sarcastic tones to click on a cyber address (Front Page Magazine) to something which “a David Horowitz” had written.

“Baghdad is liberated. In the days to come let us not forget that if it were not for one man, and one man alone – George Bush – the people of Iraq would not be celebrating in the streets and pulling down Saddam’s statues today,” the piece read. That and a whole other accompanying-trash one would expect from Ann Coulter doing her littering catwalk, or any graduates of her political modeling agency. So I quickly dismissed it… but only until Christmas that year when an ultraconservative client gifted me a copy of “Left Illusions: An Intellectual Odyssey,” authored by none other than David Horowitz. This Horowitz had catapulted from a Marxist-Maoist position in the 60’s and early 70’s, all 180 degrees to a full-fledged neocon; the type of American political dream story that brings a smile to our politicians’ faces, and warms the hearts of America’s body politic.

David Horowitz found out, after an evolutionary internal political hiatus, that writing on behalf of American capitalism, no matter how predatory or unjust it proves to be, is far more economically rewarding than penning for those foolish ideals he had espoused while at UC Berkeley and the “unenlightened” decade that followed. Now all he has to do is turn the silk lining of his old coat and let the smoothness of the new acquired faith shine through, taking on anything that smacks of the Left, or anarcho-syndicalism in the image of Chomsky, or American blacks who might complain, or what he calls Radical Islam on the book cover and Islamo-Fascism in the text, or his ongoing fight against that entrenched Left in academe warring against his idea of academic freedom.

“David Horowitz found out, after an evolutionary internal political hiatus, that writing on behalf of American capitalism, no matter how predatory or unjust it proves to be, is far more economically rewarding than penning for those foolish ideals he had espoused while at UC Berkeley and the “unenlightened” decade that followed.”

Although I don’t find Horowitz’ mini-tirades intellectually stimulating, and definitely not challengingly adversarial, I do take a weekly peek at the choreographed war-dance that takes place at frontpagemag.com against us folks who have been ridiculously and merciless branded as America-haters. After all, two-million daily website visits places this pulpit of neoconservatism at a world-wide rank approaching the 50,000th high-traffic mark among 100-plus million websites. And, had you been visiting the site during the past two years, you would have found his personal blogs directed in great part towards the misgivings of the Left in academe. But heck, that’s to be expected, for what better way to promote his last two books, both dealing with treasonous professors of the Left and his alert virtuosity in the defense of academic freedom, than a reminder of those very dangerous professors led by William Ayers (University of Illinois, Chicago), Peter McLaren (UCLA) or any of the other 101 red-spotted professor-Dalmatians.

In today’s blog, Horowitz decries the invitation by the “intellectually corrupt” Department of Romance Languages at Cornell of Álvaro Garcia Linera, Vice President of Bolivia and “God-forgive-us,” a socialist. A non literary-lecture on “Marxism and Indianism” scheduled for September 3rd is too racist and fascistic for Mr. Horowitz, who constantly reminds us he’s an advocate for intellectual diversity. Such self-claimed advocacy would indeed be hilariously funny, if it weren’t so pungently obscene.

The most striking part of this convert to Righteousness is precisely that advocacy to what he proclaims as the mission of America’s elementary and secondary schools “to serve American pluralism: to educate a community of citizens who disagree with each other into a common culture of tolerance and respect.” As wonderful as that may sound, it’s important to bear in mind that diversity and pluralism for David Horowitz operate in a political spectrum of just 90 degrees, from the right to the extreme right; all contained in a Right angle of social irresponsibility and lack of social justice.

Whether David Horowitz accepts it or not, present day society is highly unjust not just in the Third World, but all throughout much of the globe, including the US… and that the free market, which is by no means free, will not bring social justice, nor will the promotion of philanthropy and charity bring equity and elevate humankind towards ever higher degrees of equality and the adherence to a universal concept of human rights.

There are several paths to social justice, but Horowitz’ choice of singular pluralism is not one of them. At least those professors on the Left he speaks ill of have one of the paths that might get us there… if not the only path.

David Horowitz needs to retranslate “e pluribus unum” and relearn what pluralism is.

© 2007 Ben Tanosborn

Ben Tanosborn an editor of MWC News, after completing graduate studies at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), set out for a career in international business that would take him to five continents, expose him to several cultures and make him realize the importance for any and all Americans to become goodwill ambassadors for the United States.
Other articles by this author
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