Tag Archives: human rights

I have been asked to speak at the  April 19 Rally of the

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The Human Rights Torch Relay is an international campaign that seeks to bring an end to all human rights abuses against the people of China, while highlighting the persecution of Falun Gong – the most severely persecuted group in China today. During the run up to the 2008 Olympics, the HRTR will host events in 37 countries across six continents to present its message: The Olympics and crimes against humanity cannot coexist in China.

The Tibetan, Burmese, and Vietnamese communities, the Darfur Support Network (Sudan), Chinese democracy groups, student groups, former Olympians, and representatives from sports and politics are among the relay participants.

I am very honored to participate and enthused about speaking out against human rights violations.
I will post more details as I find out about them. 

Palestinians break out of Gaza

Mayor of Salt Lake City to Bush, Congress, and Media: “We Won’t take it anymore!”

Address by Mayor Ross C. “Rocky” Anderson, December 3, 2007

Today, as we come together once again in this great city, we raise our voices in unison to say to President Bush, to Vice President Cheney, to other members of the Bush Administration (past and present), to a majority of Congress, including Utah’s entire congressional delegation, and to much of the mainstream media: “You have failed us miserably and we won’t take it anymore.”

While we had every reason to expect far more of you, you have been pompous, greedy, cruel, and incompetent as you have led this great nation to a moral, military, and national security abyss.” “You have breached trust with the American people in the most egregious ways. You have utterly failed in the performance of your jobs. You have undermined our Constitution, permitted the violation of the most fundamental treaty obligations, and betrayed the rule of law.

You have engaged in, or permitted, heinous human rights abuses of the sort never before countenanced in our nation’s history as a matter of official policy. You have sent American men and women to kill and be killed on the basis of lies, on the basis of shifting justifications, without competent leadership, and without even a coherent plan for this monumental blunder.
We are here to tell you: We won’t take it anymore! You have acted in direct contravention of values that we, as Americans who love our country, hold dear. You have deceived us in the most cynical, outrageous ways. You have undermined, or allowed the undermining of, our constitutional system of checks and balances among the three presumed co-equal branches of government. You have helped lead our nation to the brink of fascism, of a dictatorship contemptuous of our nation’s treaty obligations, federal statutory law, our Constitution, and the rule of law.
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KRCL partnering with Chevron????

I am urging everyone who supports community radio to express their opinion on the following:

I love our local “radio-free” community radio station, KRCL. The program hosts are great (and all volunteer), music just about all day, Democracy Now! is played daily. I’ve been fortunate, too, to be able to record psa’s in their studio for various events.

I was quite dismayed this morning to hear a psa about KRCL’s food drive on December 14th for the Utah Food Bank – in partnership with CHEVRON.

When you go to the page, KRCL Food Drive, their is no mention of Chevron, but the psa clearly connects its partnership with this corporation.

I’ve known for years about Chevron’s human rights abuses in various countries.

Read for yourself on Chevron’s corporate domination in the world and their human rights vilations:
Learn more and take actionChevron (CVX) in Nigeria: Claiming Rights and Resources
Democracy Now! archive of news stories on Chevron
NIGERIA: Chevron Paid Troops After Alleged Killing
Chevron On Iraqi Kickbacks: My Bad
Chevron’s Pipeline Is the Burmese Regime’s Lifeline

I have written a letter to KRCL (pasted below) urging them to not accept support from companies like Chevron. I am publicly urging readers to do the same. Here is the contact info for sending letters:

Staff Members

General
Donna Land Maldonado – General Manager – donnal at krcl.org
Amy Dwyer – Office Manager/Admin Assistant – amyd at krcl.org

Programming
Ryan Tronier – Program Director – ryant at krcl.org
Felix Gonzalez – Studio Technician – felix at krcl.org
Troy Williams – RadioActive Producer – troyw at krcl.org
Tino Arana – Operations – tinoa at krcl.org

Development & Fundraising
Charlie Seldin – Development Director – charlies at krcl.org
Sue Gerber – CD-of-the-Month (volunteer) – sueg at krcl.org

Underwriting
Shawn Jimerson – Underwriting Manager – shawn at krcl.org

KRCL 90.9 FM
Listeners Community Radio of Utah
1971 West North Temple
Salt Lake City, UT 84116
———————————–
My letter to KRCL:
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Tasers: A Form of Torture?

A man who posted a YouTube video of himself being tasered by a Utah Highway Patrol Officer has generated controversy according to an article in today’s Deseret News – mostly due to the comments that people have made in response to it.
(NOTE: I personally do not condone the violent commments made in response to the video clip but think it's important to reveal the torture methods being used by police in the United States.)

Here is more information on the use of tasers as torture in recent news:

Published on Sunday, November 25, 2007 by CBS News
UN: Tasers Are A Form Of Torture
“Stun Guns” Are Under Fire After Six Deaths This Week; Rallies Held Demanding They Be Banned
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Cynthia McKinney Seeking Green Party Presidential Nomination

I had the great fortune of seeing Cynthia McKinney speak at the Annual National Meeting of the Green Party of the United States this past summer and then meeting her at the SOA Watch event last weekend.  She will be working with me and others here in Utah towards a visit in the spring of 2008.  Below are videos and photos of her appearance at the SOA Watch event last weekend.

Cynthia’s websites:
All Things Cynthia McKinney
McKinney for President 2008

Cynthia McKinney, who is seeking the Green Party of the United States Presidential Nomination, attended the School of the Americas Watch Event on Sunday, November 18, 2007. She was a featured speaker on the stage. She was also among those who led the funeral procession after the funeral service.

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School of the Americas Watch Event – My Experience

There is so much to tell it’s hard to know where to start. The good news is that five Latin American countries are now officially School of the Americas “dropouts” (they will not be sending any more of their military to the SOA for training). The bad news: It’s still open and operating. But it’s getting closer and closer to closing down. Only about 6 more U.S. representatives are needed to vote to close it.

My experience is best told through photos and videos. I have posted videos at
Green Party Peace Network.
You can also view my videos at Youtube – search for “deesdotes”.

Photos Tom and I took can be viewed at the SOAW page of the Green Party Peace Network.

Here are a few things for “taste” of what I experienced:
Father Roy Bourgeois, Founder of the SOA Watch

Funeral Procession






School of the Americas Watch Event to Close the SOA

I will be posting photos here of my experience at the School of the Americas Watch Event last weekend.

In the meantime, you can see photos here.

Going to Ft. Benning

Tom turned 50 today.  It’s also John Lennon’s birthday – he would have been 67 (see post below).  It’s a great day in my life……

For his birthday, I presented Tom with airline tickets to go to Georgia (Ft. Benning) for the annual CLOSE THE SCHOOL OF THE AMERICAS event, where over 10,000 people annually vigil at the gates to Ft. Benning in an effort to shut down the “School of Assassins”.

Tom has always wanted to go to this event (as have I!) and so it will be reality this year!

Health care for children in the U.S.

The Bushites will not stop at elevating privatization of healthcare:

The Bush administration, continuing its fight to stop states from expanding the popular Children’s Health Insurance Program, has adopted new standards that would make it much more difficult for New York, California and others to extend coverage to children in middle-income families.

Administration officials outlined the new standards in a letter sent to state health officials on Friday evening, in the middle of a month-long Congressional recess. In interviews, they said the changes were aimed at returning the Children’s Health Insurance Program to its original focus on low-income children and to make sure the program did not become a substitute for private health coverage.

A “substitute for private health coverage”?  I think what they mean is that they don’t want the profits of private health companies being compromised by more and more folks becoming eligible for the CHIP program. 

If thehealth care system in this country wasn’t so focused on greed and profit-making at the expense of the health care needs of very single person living in America, there would not be a need for programs like CHIP and there would be no competition for insurance companies because there would be NO insurance companies.  Imagine, EVERYONE receiving the health care they need, regardless of income.  What a concept.

The Bush Administration has left our children behind in many ways.  This is yet another example of how Americans are continuing to be screwed.