Subject: ON CONTEMPORARY SOCIAL MOVEMENTS
WITHIN THE
12 December 2004
Grenoble, France
Dear Colleagues and Friends of CEIMSA,
This week in Grenoble, Belgium dancer, Anne Teresa de
Keersmaeker, performed a series of power
interpretations of Joan Baez and Bob Dylan songs on anti-war themes from the
1960s --which she elevated to universal concerns of human relationships of domination/subjugation
in the context of war and corporate hierarchies.
Meanwhile, inside the
In Items A. and B.,
we hear from Greg Palast, an investigative reporter
who is now challenging the presidential elections of 2004. In the same
direction as Ralph Nader and Professors Gabriel Kolko and Bertell Ollman, (please see CEIMSA Newsletter No.25),
Palast is reporting his findings in the
In Item C. we see citizens of
Finally, in Item D., Michigan artist Joanna Learner, whose
pacifist paintings were exhibited last spring at CEIMSA's
Third Annual International Conference, featuring Jim Hightower, has sent us an
account of the devastating impact that corporate America is having on the
world's environment and the role that religious right-wing groups are playing
at the highest levels of government in this "Apocalypse Now"
scenario.
The contemporary social movements which are now underway in the
On our CEIMSA-IN-EXILE web site, we provide readers with access to a list of
more than 80 local movement addresses, which is taken from the French
translation of Jim Hightower's recent book, "Ces truands qui nous gouvern".
Please visit Atelier 19,
Article 43
for a copy of this important list of of name and
addresses of American activist organizations.
We invite our readers to contact local movement offices in the
Sincerely,
Francis McCollum Feeley
Professor of American Studies
Director of Research
Université Stendhal
_____________________
A.
from Greg Palast :
Date: Fri,
Subject: WHY HAVEN'T THEY COUNTED A QUARTER MILLION VOTES IN
WHY HAVEN'T THEY COUNTED A QUARTER MILLION VOTES IN
Live nationwide on Pacifica radio and at KPFT.org
Jesse Jackson and Greg Palast
On Saturday, from
For BBC Television, Palast uncovered the fake felon
list that swiped the election in 2000; this year, his report on BBC television
broke the story of the secret Republican "caging" lists that bent the
November race.
The smell of Black ballots burning is hard to ignore. We need your help
to continue this investigation into the votes not counted in
We're asking you to keep this investigation going by making a $50
tax-deductible donation to the Palast Investigative
Fund ... in return we'll send you as a thank you, the blistering documentary,
"Bush Family Fortunes" on DVD, signed by reporter Palast.
The film is taken from Palast's award-winning
investigate broadcasts for BBC Television - the story of the Bush-Bin Laden
connection, the shoplift of the vote in Florida, the secret plans for
"Operation Iraqi Liberation" and other reports that you can't see on
your Fox-ified TV. Donate at http://www.gregpalast.com/store.htm
Donate before December 10 and receive your signed DVD before Christmas via
first class mail.
Catch the new flash animation from Bush Family Fortunes at http://www.gregpalast.com/bff-dvd.htm
This is the film Jesse Jackson says, "You must
see." That Senator John Edwards calls "Important and
disturbing." Katherine Harris says Palast's
reporting is, "Twisted and maniacal." Maybe that's why Noam Chomsky says Palast, "Upsets all the right people."
_____________________
B.
from Greg Palast :
Date: Mon,
Subject: A Stolen Election: The View From My Black Helicopter
The Nation
copyright
A Stolen Election
The View From My Black Helicopter
by Greg Palast
I'd just stepped out of my
black helicopter to read that one of my favorite journalists, David Corn, had
attacked my analysis of the vote in
Oh, my! And all because I wrote that the uncounted ballots in
Corn says, "Palast wrongly assumes that an
overwhelming majority of these ballots contain votes for Kerry." Now
why would I think such a thing? Maybe because the precinct-by-precinct
analysis of "spoiled" votes (those which machines can't count) by
Professor Mark Salling of
The Republican Secretary of State of Ohio does not disagree, by the way; he
intends to fix the Jim Crow vote-counting problem in
The second group of uncounted ballots, "provisionals," were also generated
substantially in African-American areas, the direct result of a Republican
program to hunt down, challenge and suppress the votes cast in black-majority
precincts.
What happened in
I will admit, David, I can't tell you exactly how each of those disenfranchised
voters would have cast their ballots. Indeed, one Republican statistician
claims these uncounted ballots are cast mostly by African-American supporters
of George Bush.
Nevertheless, most of us conspiracy nuts on the Grassy Knoll hold to our wild
belief that most black citizens whose ballots were spoiled or rejected tried to
vote for the tall guy from
----------
Greg Palast is the author of, "The Best
Democracy Money Can Buy." Get the latest on Palast's
investigation of the vote at www.GregPalast.com Palast's
documentary for BBC Television, "Bush Family Fortunes," is now
available on DVD.
If you donate to support the completion of our investigation into the election,
the author will send you a signed copy of the book, audio book (read by Jim
Hightower and friends) or the DVD. Go to www.GregPalast.com/store.htm
_____________________
C.
from : "James Cohen" :
Subject: Movement Against the Shipment of Weapons to
Date: Thu,
Francis,
Here's some of the more interesting activism in the
-- jim
Building a Movement Against
the Shipment of Weapons to
By Peter Bohmer
Like many other communities,
activism in
potential locally and possibly, beyond to build a movement against war supplies
going to
On Friday, November 5th, from
On Saturday, November 6th, a peace and justice summit organized by the
Olympia Movement for Justice (OMJP) drew 140 people. This was larger than the
organizers expected. Many attendees had been Kerry supporters, who now wanted
to get involved in organizing against the War, and against neoconservative
policy, attacks on civil liberties and civil rights, and the pro-rich person
agenda of the Bush administration.
In response to the murderous attacks on Falluja
and anticipating the expected loading of a ship with war supplies for
Sending military supplies would further the continuing war against the Iraqi
people and cause more
After the rally at
sea about
Tactical and Philosophical Differences
On Friday, November 19th, the local daily newspaper, The Olympian,
carried a front page story on the action at the port with pictures of masked
protesters and a focus on the $3500 of damage to the fence. This action has led
to a strong, healthy and unresolved debate among the anti-war movement in
occurred. To some extent, there are age and cultural differences among those
who supported and opposed the tearing down of the fence. Similar debates took
place in
Those who argued that tearing down the fence and if possible delaying the
ship's departure was a positive and necessary act claimed that this action was
non-violent, and dramatically illustrated
Participants in this action want to emphasize and make visible to people
in the
Many of the people over 30 years old and many of the members of the
Olympia Movement for Justice and Peace (OMJP), a longtime local group, did not
support the property damage. They believed tearing down the fence would become
the issue rather than the war. Some members of OMJP believed as a result of the
property damage and pictures in the newspaper of protesters
wearing bandannas to cover their faces, residents of
They believe what occurred was counter productive because it will make it
more difficult to reach the broader community and build a stronger anti-war
movement. A member of OMJP said to me she would support a highly planned civil
disobedience where people sat down near the ship but not what happened on
November 18th. There was general agreement that criticisms and debates about
the anti-war actions of others should occur face to face and not in the
mainstream media.
My position is that actions such as the ones that occurred at the port
are necessary as are rallies and vigils. They must take place, however, in the
context of and together with a growing movement that is doing outreach and
popular education beyond the anti-war movement. It means talking with people
and listening to their concerns one to one and going to churches, workplaces,
schools, and community groups to discuss why the U.S. occupation of Iraq is
wrong and should be stopped and linking the war to growing
economic problems at home such as unaffordable healthcare, childcare and higher
education, falling wages and the related ballooning balance of payments
deficits. It means talking and listening to people in the military and their
families about the immorality and the unwinnability
of the war against
The
On Monday, November 22nd, the
a year creating a small surplus and more work for the members of the Longshore Union. Because of the public interest in
the militarization of the port and the activities of the week before, there was
a turnout of about 150 people at the hearing. Usually there are only a few
people in attendance.
The great majority of those attending were against the port being used to send
military supplies to
We pointed out the revenues received yearly by the port were a drop in
the bucket compared to the 80 million dollars per year which is the pro-rated
share for county residents of the 100 billion dollars being spent yearly
on the war. Speakers challenged the argument
that we were endangering
In response to the argument that if the
One difficult issue is the question of jobs for those loading these ships. At
the hearing, the president of the union, Keith Bausch, stated that the
International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU)
opposes the war with Iraq but supports the shipping of military supplies and
the ongoing contract of the port with the military. These are livable wage jobs
for their members in a small port. Members of OMJP met with the ILWU leadership
of Local 47 a few days after the hearing to open a dialog and had a productive
discussion about the war and labor issues. We agreed on jointly organizing a
community forum although the ILWU made it clear that they would continue to
load the ships.
The organizer from the ILWU, Paul Bigman, pointed out
at this meeting that many unions have taken positions against the war, there is
strong worker opposition to this war. Much of the anti-war movement has not
reached out sufficiently. It is necessary for the peace and justice movement to
become more inclusive in membership, to include more centrally issues of concern
to workers, and to form active coalitions with unions when possible.
The
Conclusion
Hopefully, we will do better and more education
and outreach in the future about military shipments and the war. To be
meaningful, this needs to be an ongoing campaign not a one-shot action. We need
to discuss in more depth effective strategy and tactics, and improve our
efforts to build a movement that incorporates the insights, energy, and actions
of people of diverse ages, classes and ideologies. We have a long way to
go. Hopefully, this example of organizing against military shipments to
other organizations, individuals and communities who are committed to justice
and peace.
To end the
_____________________
D.
from Joanna Learner :
Date: Thu,
Subject: Alternet: Battlefield Earth
Francis,
Thought you would be interested in this article.
The environment is in trouble and the religious right doesn't care.
It's time to act as if the future depends on us;
because it does.
Joanna
Battlefield Earth
http://www.alternet.org/story/20666
*************
Francis McCollum Feeley
Professor of American Studies/
Director of Research at CEIMSA-IN-EXILE
http://dimension.ucsd.edu/CEIMSA-IN-EXILE/