Date: Mon, 9 Jan 2006 18:06:43 -0800
From: "renee boje" <rboje@...>
To: freerenee@...
Subject: RB: Kubby Family Pleas for Public Support

For Immediate release:
January 9, 2006

For more info call:
Michele Kubby (250) 578-8422

Kubby Family Pleas for Public Support,
As Judge Delays His Decision on Whether Cancer Patient Must Be Sent
to Die in US Jail.

VANCOUVER -- Canadian Federal Judge, Yvon Pinard, has “taken under
advisement” the question as to whether to stay (stop) Immigration
Canada’s attempt to send Steve Kubby, cancer patient and medical
marijuana refugee, to die in an American jail this week. The judge
said that he might decide ‘tomorrow’ or it could be ‘weeks.’

Michele Kubby, who argued on behalf of her husband, said, “We are
glad that the judge is at least considering the issues, but my
husband is already seriously ill and the added stress of not knowing
when he may rule makes things even more difficult for Steve. We need
everyone’s help.”

Despite a statement by Placer County California prosecutor, Chris
Cattran, that Kubby would be jailed on his return to the US, and
would be sentenced to at least 120 days in jail, plus penalties for
probation violation, the Immigration Ministry’s counsel, Keith
Reimer, argued that there was no proof that Kubby would be arrested
if he is delivered to US authorities. Cattran prosecuted Kubby in
1999 after a six month surveillance of the Kubbys’ home based solely
on an anonymous letter.

Reimer also claimed that prisoners in US jails receive proper medical
care, and can sue if they don’t get it. Mrs. Kubby pointed out that
her husband needs cannabis regularly, and no US jail allows its
prisoners to have cannabis.

After the hearing, Mrs. Kubby spoke to a large group of journalists
from the Canadian media. The Kubbys’ nine year-old daughter Brooke
was also interviewed. The hearing was attended by Seattle lawyer
Douglas Hiatt, who represented another American medical marijuana
refugee, Steven Tuck, who was held for a week in Washington State
jails without being given even antibiotics. Tuck was taken from a
Vancouver ER in handcuffs last October and forcibly returned to the US.

Hiatt was not allowed to testify, but he did speak to the Canadian
media about the conditions in US jails and prisons. He emphasized
that the rights of medical marijuana prisoners are often violated,
and most prisoners do not get proper medical care.

Mrs. Kubby was distressed to find herself having to explain to the
court that her husband’s death would clearly constitute “irreparable
harm”, while the Immigration Ministry argued that not sending Kubby
to the US immediately would not be “convenient” for the Ministry.

"Considering that this was a routine request to issue a temporary
stay while the court considers our motion, I have lost all remaining
faith in the court system and can only plead with people who hear
about our situation to call, call and call again until those
Ministers who are responsible fix this legal nightmare," said Mrs.
Kubby.

"Phone calls to the Ministers of Immigration, Health, Justice and
Public Safety may be our only hope now," added Mrs. Kubby.

To find our more on how you can help the Kubby family please visit:
http://www.kubby.com

--
To unsubscribe from freerenee, send a message to
freerenee-request@... containing the command "unsubscribe"
http://www.reneeboje.com/

 

 

---------end----------

Date: Sun, 1 Jan 2006 21:25:29 +0200
From: André du Plessis

Not the best thing to have on your countries CV :(

 

SA is Africa's leading jailer

 

South Africa, an economic and political leader in Africa, is also the continent's number one jailer.

If prisons are a reflection of society, what conclusions are to be drawn from this reality, particularly in a nation rightfully proud of its nascent democracy?

In global terms, South Africa is not alone in registering a sharp increase in its prison population. Today more than nine million men, women and children are held in penal institutions worldwide, according to the sixth edition of the World Prison Population List, compiled by Roy Walmsley at the International Centre for Prison Studies at King's College, London.

More than two million of those prisoners, or 22% of the total, are found behind bars in the United States, which maintains the world's highest rate of imprisonment -- with 714 prisoners for every 100 000 inhabitants.

Russia and Belarus share Europe's highest incarceration rate, with 532 prisoners per 100 000 inhabitants. China has the world's second-highest number of prisoners, at 1,55-million. However, its incarceration rate (118 per 100 000) reflects only sentenced prisoners.

The latest World Prison Population List, compiled at the end of February 2005, shows South Africa with Africa's highest incarceration rate (413 per 100 000), followed by Botswana (339 per 100 000).

Nigeria, the continent's most populous state, trails with a modest 31 per 100 000.

In terms of absolute numbers, South Africa's prison population of 186 700 dwarfs that of every other African country, including Egypt (80 000), Ethiopia (65 000) and even Rwanda, where approximately 103 000 of the 112 000 people behind bars are held on suspicion of participation in genocide.

Even after the release of 65 387 prisoners in June and August 2005, South Africa still has the highest number of prisoners on the continent.

Walmsley, an honourary consultant to the United Nations, says that between mid-2002 and February 2005, inmate numbers rose in 73% of the 211 countries and territories covered by the list.

"The rise in prison populations worldwide is attributable to a variety of circumstances, varying from country to country. In some it follows the election of government ministers with a 'tough-on-crime' agenda, in others it is related to increased use of drugs. In many it occurs despite decreases in crime levels. There are many different reasons. There is no uniform answer," he says.

South Africa faces a complicating factor: it has been just over a decade since a democratic government inherited a racially skewed criminal justice system lacking integrity or legitimacy, in which prisons were not subject to credible or effective oversight.

Crime and democracy
The transition to democracy was accompanied by a sharp increase in the reported incidence of violent crime. Statistics from the Institute of Security Studies show that recorded violent crimes such as murder, rape and all forms of robbery and assault grew from 618 000 in 1994 to 751 000 incidents in 1999.

These trends appeared to catch the new African National Congress-led government by surprise. As the public outcry over crime grew, however, government officials increasingly adopted a "tough-on-crime" stance.

In 1998, then deputy president Thabo Mbeki, in an address to the South African Democratic Teachers Union, likened criminals to "barbarians in our midst". In 1999 the late Steve Tshwete, then minister of safety and security, is reported to have suggested that police officers deal with criminals "in the same way a bulldog deals with a bull".

These words were accompanied by tougher laws and minimum sentencing. The prison population swelled rapidly, fuelled largely by an explosion in the number of awaiting-trial prisoners from 24 265 in January 1995 to 63 964 in April 2000.

Today, South Africa's 240 prisons are grossly overcrowded. In September 2004 these institutions, designed for a total capacity of 113 825 prisoners, housed 186 546 people.

"It is no exaggeration to say that, if the SPCA [Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals] were to cram as many animals into a cage as our correctional services are forced to cram prisoners into a single cell, the SPCA would be prosecuted for cruelty to animals," said Pretoria High Court judge Eberhard Bertelsmann in February 2005 when he gave reasons for not sending Winnie Madikizela-Mandela to prison.

Few dispute that South Africa's social and economic disparities help to fuel crime. Inspecting Judge Hannes Fagan writes in the 2003/04 annual report of the Judicial Inspectorate of Prisons that of crimes committed, 30% were economic crimes and 50% aggressive crimes "largely engendered by poverty and joblessness and the frustrations that they cause".

The immediate cost to the state of keeping so many people in jail is approximately R25-million a day.

But perhaps the most shocking statistic is that 28% of those behind bars -- more than 52 000 people -- are awaiting trial and have not been found guilty of any crime.

The awaiting-trial prisoners, who are held on average for several months, are not involved in any rehabilitation programmes, receive no training or schooling, and seldom have access to recreational facilities.

Retribution or rehabilitation?
Addressing Parliament in June 2004, President Thabo Mbeki quoted British columnist Will Hutton at some length. Hutton, Mbeki said, "argues that 'Western democracies have been characterised by one broad family of ideas that might be called left -- a belief in the social, reduction in inequality, the provision of public services, the principle that workers should be treated as assets rather than commodities, regulation of enterprise, rehabilitation of criminals, tolerance and respect for minorities -- and another broad family of ideas that might be called right: an honouring of our inherited institutional fabric, a respect for order, a belief that private property rights and profit are essential to the operation of the market economy, a suspicion of worker rights, faith in the remedial value of punitive justice and distrust of the new."

Mbeki said his government endorsed the "broad family of ideas that might be called left".

Notwithstanding the president's remarks, however, contradictory signals are evident within the criminal justice system. For example, minimum sentencing laws were extended in 2005, mandating minimum jail terms of up to 25 years and life for a variety of offences, including categories of theft, drug dealing, assault, rape and murder.

"The effect of the minimum sentence legislation has been to greatly increase the number of prisoners serving long and life sentences. It has resulted in a major shift in the length of prison terms," points out Judge Fagan in the 2004/05 annual report of the Judicial Inspectorate of Prisons.

Fagan says the numbers continue to rise and an annual growth rate of about 7 000 will lead to such inhumane conditions that mass releases of prisoners will be required periodically.

On the other hand, in February 2005, the Cabinet officially adopted the White Paper on Corrections, which proposes a radical shift in prison policy towards rehabilitation, to better reflect constitutional imperatives, and to conform to international human rights statutes to which South Africa is a signatory.

However, the white paper acknowledges that there is a tremendous gap between the policy shift that it envisions and the present reality.

• This articles was made possible by a two-month Media Fellowship granted to Roelf by the Open Society Foundation of South Africa in co-operation with the South African Press Association. - Sapa

http://www.mg.co.za/articlePage.aspx?articleid=260275&area=/breaking_news/breaking_news__national/

 

 

Andre du Plessis

B1 Projects - Building People

+27 72-324-5010

 

http://www.internafrica.co.za/  http://houseit.blogspot.com/

 

 

 

----------end--------------

To: <Circle_of_light@...>
Date: Fri, 30 Dec 2005 22:43:24 -0600
From: "A Rainbow Family Calendar &amp;
Mailer" <Circle_of_light@...>
Subject: [Circle_of_Light] New Years Eve 2005/2006 - Howdy Folks

Howdy Folks!,

New information has been uploaded to the Circle of Light Rainbow
Calendar located at: http://welcomehere.org/cgi-bin/calendar.pl
This is a free open source community calendar, please share it with
others and help spread the peace in all directions, Shine!

---------------------------------------------------------------


From: Anon Subject: 2006 New Years Eve Drummin' For
Peace for those in north central arkansas area, you're welcome to join us at
'For Mother Earth' in Norfork, Arkansas for our second annual 'Drummin' for
Peace'. vegetarian pot luck begins at 6 p.m. saturday, and eatin' and
drummin' and love continues to at least 10, and beyond if the energy holds.
bring your own eating gear, just like gathering. we have extra drums and
other musical instruments. For Mother Earth is located in downtown Norfork,
about 15 miles south of Mt. Home on Hwy. 5. We're just across the street
from the Norfork p.o. or, just ask a local for 'the hippies' :) 870-499-5514
(shop) 870-297-4456 (home) lovin' you all - anon amiss"

From: michael Subject: new year's eve 2006 at lake
ozark. anyone wanting to join us for a calmer new year's eve at the lake,
please reply by email to this address (hopefully with your phone number) for
directions: showmem@... Camdenton Missouri Area

Your invited to the House of Gonzo for the 11th Annual Jerry Garcia &
Timothy Leary Memorial Fun Tournament - New Years Eve 2006 in Ann Arbor
Michigan
Come Complete - Cooperation is the key! No RSVP Needed, Suprizes are fun!.
734-761-4243 or Gonzo
http://homepage.mac.com/stevej1/.Public/Fun%20Tournament%2005_06.jpg

The Peace Conspiracy Tribe New Years Eve Get Down 2005 / 2006
Come roll in the New Year with us! Evening of live music, dancing,
festivities, food and fun @ The Blue Room in Springfield Missouri.
Good times start at 8:00 pm and run until the next year sometime. After
party to follow ; ) Overnight digs for those too rolled to stone.

The Blue Room
Billiards Of Springfield
541 E. Saint Louis St.
417-866-4319
Sound by Diamond Dog Productions

I'm Lost: 417-831-5570

________________________________

The Eugene, Oregon Rainbow Family will hold
their monthly Potluck on
Sunday, Jan 1 from 2-6pm
at the Emerald City Coffeehouse
347 W. 5th Street
(3 doors down from the Keystone).

Bring: Food and juice to share.
Your own cup, bowl and spoon
Musical instruments

FREE (of course)

______________________________


FWD FROM THE NEW WAVELAND CAFE YAHOO GROUP
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/newwavelandcafe/

DO NOT REPLY TO THIS POST.

PLEASE RESPOND TO CHU BBAKKA AT THE NUMBERS and EADDIE
GIVEN IN THE LETTER BELOW.

BEGIN FWD:


To All A Wondrous And prosperous New Year,
My name is Chu Bbakka and I'm 1 of 3 trustees for
Feed The People. We have found ourselves in an
interesting position. We have been trying to run a
thrift store to try and raise funds for our Free
Kitchen. BBUUTTT with the economy the way it is and a
deceitful landlord plus sky high utility bills we are
not pulling in enough to pay our rent and are being
evicted. When Katrina hit we were not in a position to
be able to help but now when this call went out and
since we had to close here anyway we decided that we
will move the entire contents of the thrift store
(when it gets down there it will become one of those
infamous Free Stores you hear about at Rainbow
Gatherings) and the kitchen including a "30 Traveler
Camping Trailer, A 3/4 ton Ford Van and a full size
Kitchen/school bus down to Waveland to join with
Second Helping's efforts and help with the ongoing
relief/rebuilding efforts.
I talked With Mama Ka-Boom yesterday morning and she
told me that they had a 2 acre piece of land to work
with. As she was telling me the list of the Major
things they need and we have most all of it here down
to the riding Lawn mower and a completely stocked Free
Store.
Now here is where the problem comes in I have all
these supplies to bring down but all the stuff from
the store are going to fill the Van and trailer up
completely and would be an overload on the fully
packed van to pull a fully packed 30' camping trailer
plus we have the riding lawn mower. I'll cut to the
chase. What we need is a trucker with a flat bed to
load the van, trailer, riding lawn mower and any and
all other supplies I can come up with or get donated.
We are in Elyria, Ohio and will be going to
Waveland, Mississippi. We want to leave in the next
2-3 weeks as it will take that long for us to get
everything packed and tye up most of the loose ends so
I can leave for 6+ months.
As for the Kitchen Bus it is in a storage area in
Ringgold, Ga and it needs a new throw-out bearing. We
would probably need a low-boy flat bed to load it on.
The bus is greatly needed but the Kitchen/free store
more are important and needs moved first.
so the kitchen is what I'm concentrating on first
since I need to be present to get the bus outta
storage.
If there is anyone out there who would like to
volunteer there services to help us please contact me
asap. (440)322-3333 or (440)341-1960 or email me at
chu_bbakka@... or contact me on yahoo messenger

Peace, Love And Happiness
To All Creatures
Chuie
http://www.geocities.com/chu_bbakka

--------------------------------------------------------------------
2006 Annual Rainbow Gathering
Peaceful Freedom Assembly July 1st ~ 7th, 2006
Central United States in the State of Colorado
http://www.welcomehere.org/gathering_of_the_tribes/annual/

The 2006 Annual Rainbow Gathering will be celebrated in the beautiful State
of Colorado, July 1st thru 7th, 2006. Location of the gathering site will be
decided and announced sometime in the first weeks of June 2006. All voices
and hearts are humbly welcomed to share in the vibration of world peace.

First Annual Rainbow Gathering Scout Rendezvous (April 28th - May 1st, 2006
TBA), Second Scouting Rendezvous is June 3rd - 4th, 2006 (TBA) & Annual
Rainbow Gathering Spring Council (June 9 -11, 2006 TBA)


All Scouts Welcomed!!
Scout Contact 2006 Annual
(800) 699-2466 then # (800) 456-7999.

Colorado Rainbow Family Light Line
(303) 595-1077

Rainbow Connection 2006
Post Office Box 934
Paonia, Co, 81428

--------------------------------------------------------------------
A Gathering of the Tribes
Vision Counsel March 17th - 20th, 2006
Peaceful Freedom Assembly July 1st ~ 7th, 2006
Central United States in the Ozarks Region
This is not the Annual / National Rainbow Gathering for Peace and Healing
http://www.welcomehere.org/gathering_of_the_tribes/

All peaceful beings are welcome to come share the gift of harmony and
prayers for world peace as we celebrate interdependence day in unity without
glorification of war. A circle of silent meditation will commence with the
rising sun on the morning of July 4th until noon.

This peaceful vibration will be shared world wide with other individuals in
a conscience wave of hope, love and understanding.

This is a Gathering of the Tribes and intended to expand the beauty, peace
and vibration of harmony to all corners of the globe. Much respect and
blessing are shared with other individuals all over the world that intend to
circle in the Spirit of peace. May we grow and become in unity.

--------------------------------------------------------------------
PROPOSITION ONE COMMITTEE
P.O. Box 27217, Washington, DC 20038 USA 202-682-4282 phone and fax
(call first)
http://prop1.org  | mailto:prop1 at prop1.org -
WANTED: WISDOM & HONESTY
---------------------------------------------------------------

Light Lines:


Sometimes things change so check with any contact information that may
be provided prior to traveling to any listed events. Just because a
gathering happened the year prior does not mean that it will happen
again the following year. Energies and focalizers change as do counsel
circle decisions to facilitate such sacred events. Rainbow Magic happens
with respect and hard work, do lend your support and kind energies to
the circle. Participation is the key!

Come share in the unlimited vibration that is the Rainbow Family. Come
be in the way of the heart. We love you deeply, Shine! Ignore rumors of
cancellation or leadership. Spread this in the proper directions and
share the energy!

Rainbow Lightline Numbers Updated 04/27/2005 -

Dutch RB Info-line 020 468 3344
Philadelphia LightLine (215) 701-7233
North East Rainbow Family NERF (845) 774-4100
California Rainbow (916) 747-6269
North West Tribes Hotline (845) 774-4100
Mid Atlantic Hotline 202-PYREMAL (Wash. DC)
Ozark Rainbow Circle 417-831-5570
Colorado Rainbow Tribes 303-595-1077
HO! Lightline 770-662-6112 (Atlanta)
OM Valley Rainbow 513-956-1675
Great Lakes Rainbow (Ann Arbor MI) 734-761-4243
New York Lightline 212-560-7111
Texas Drum Hotline 214-823-DRUM
Northwest Rainbow Portland (503)727-2498
B.A.R.F. 205-699-9712
North Central Arizona Tribes (928) 636-6742 - 503-727-2498
Oregon N W Tribes - G.A.E.A. Fest (Ohio) 419 232 4679
Black Swamp Tribe (Ohio) 419 435 4444
Cincinnati / Cleveland 1-888-511-4783
Upper Applegate Community (So. Missouri) 417-938-4606
Ripple Ranch Plains, MT (406) 826-0260
Casa Grande/Coolidge AZ 520-723-5345
Campa Tampa (Fla.) 813-831-7228 or 813-831-4980

---------------------------------------------------------------

Need a Ride? Got a Ride? The Kind Ride Share is an excellent free
resource tool connecting travelers all over planet Earth. Share the ride
with someone, it's a beautiful way to conserve our natural resources and
meet great folks too! This is an open free service and no registration
is required to participate. http://kindrideshare.org

---------------------------------------------------------------

Please use respect and not call collect or at unreasonable hours. If you
find a number that has been changed or disconnected we would appreciate
notice so that we may update and correct the list.


Welcomehere.org is a loving effort of combined heartsongs dedicated to
Spirit and the Children of the Rainbow Family Tribes. The
Welcomehere.org website does not represent nor speak for the Rainbow
Families of the Living Light, Rainbow Family Counsels, the kind host
providers, tribal circles, you or anyone else. You are encouraged to
speak for yourself. Special thanks to all the folks who devote their
time, focus and energies to help create the magic that is Rainbow and
shine beautiful whenever they can. It is by our deeds and kindness that
we will journey together the trail towards home. Much love and respect
to you and yours from our lumpy circle, forever loving you!
Please bookmark, copy & distribute this information freely where
applicable and help spread the peace in all directions. Diversity and
Jah Guide.

===========================================

"Welcome Here!" Circle of Light Community Network http://welcomehere.org



-
--
If you have any problems with the mailer go to: http://welcomehere.org/mailman/listinfo/circle_of_light_welcomehere.org
-
http://welcomehere.org/
_______________________________________________
Circle_of_light mailing list
Circle_of_light@...
http://welcomehere.org/mailman/listinfo/circle_of_light_welcomehere.org

 

---------end-----------

To: akhaweeklyjournal@yahoogroups.com
From: Matthew McDaniel <akhalife@...>
Date: Tue, 20 Dec 2005 07:40:39 -0800 (PST)
Subject: [AkhaWeeklyJournal] Akha Journal: Update, 3rd Akha Journal

Dear Friends:

 

We near the end of the year. A busy year, a year with heart break and joy, long miles, and a united family. Mostly. But a year that saw us on the move, still waiting in the forever process of fakery at USCIS, regarding my wife's visa, her legal right, that may or may not ever happen. Our children grow up not at her house and not at mine, not in her country, not in mine.

 

We have made the best of it, to find out what is happening to the Akha elsewhere, in China and in Laos. Not always a pretty picture. Sad. In Laos, we find more and more data showing how ruthless the US Drug War has been to the Akha, poverty beyond belief, and death. Done to them in total disregard, in secret, a few people knew, mostly they kept their mouths shut. We are told by reputable sources that Norwegian Church Aid was involved. We were hoping not.

 

We found this year that while UNESCO works with missionaries who destroy Akha culture, they don't fund any Akha culture projects, or do very well at answering email either.

 

We found that people in Salem, Oregon at the churches, they are supporting the missionaries who destroy the culture of the Akha, they feel it their right.

 

The killings of the Akha in Thailand go on, so do the land seizures, so do the forced conversion of the Akha, so does the trafficking of Akha children into lucrative American missions.

 

We got one film produced and another should come out next year.

 

We took a lot of photos and now know how many more pictures we need.

 

We look at setting up an NGO for a malaria project in one country, but the progress is VERY slow on this. Maybe we will just cope with visas and do the best we can to help the Akha with what we have in hand. Beauracracy.

 

Meanwhile the fund for the 3rd Akha Journal has reached $1,025. Wow, it might happen yet, starting to feel excited about this. We need $2800 to get this all press ready.

 

Since october donations have been mostly down, so if you haven't donated in a while, keep in mind that while hanging from the world's rafters in this town and that, we still don't let go of our committment to make progress for the Akha, and right now the 3rd Akha Journal is what we are working on.

 

Your donation is very much needed and very much appreciated.

 

Last week we had a pretty rough go of it with the web site going down. But we are on better servers now, and a better site we hope to make it. We like your suggestions as to what makes the site useful for you and any ideas. What would you like to see more of? Less of? What part of the site is hard to use? www.akha.org

 

Slowly the website is headed for 10,000 hits a day.

 

We connect to a lot of blogs now, and run a few ourselves on different topics. Know a good blog, send us a link.

 

Right now, our only goal is to get the 3rd Akha Journal put together and published. Be so kind as to help us out with a donation. And to those of you who already have, we thank you so much.

 

Matthew McDaniel

 

 

The Akha Heritage Foundation.
http://www.akha.org Akha Heritage Site.

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Akhaweeklyjournal
Discussion http://groups.yahoo.com/group/akha
Donate Via Credit Card Paypal:

https://www.paypal.com/xclick/business=akha%40akha.org

PO Box 6073 Salem, OR. 97304 USA.

__________________________________________________
Do You Yahoo!?
Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around
http://mail.yahoo.com

Date: Fri, 16 Dec 2005 20:46:53 +0700
From: Matthew McDaniel akhalife@...
Subject: Re: Akha Project Funding

For Release.

16 Dec. 2005

 

There are four projects that we are working on in Laos.

 

1. Publication of the Akha Journal 3 for bookstores in S.E. Asia. (Akha journal 2 sold out save for the last 200 copies on stands now. Set up cost $2800 for which we have raised $750 already.

Printing cost will be more when we get to that point. Probably a 5,000 copy print, will be submitted to Amazon etc. To be completed in the next six months, including publishing.

 

2. Humanitarian Aid Project in Laos. Malaria reduction for the Akha.

We are in the investigation and proposal phase of this project. We will continue to need approximately $1000 per month to continue our travel, photograhy, time with consultants and preparation of our paperwork to the Lao government for approval, as well as to funding agencies. This is a complex dance with ngo's who control the larger funds, have the contacts and government networking, as well as the many consultants we rely on to advise us on the technical and data requirements of getting any aid project approved. Projects must last for three years, must benefit the Lao people, must meet budget requirement minimums of $100,000 per year. Three year project.

 

3. Our ongoing Akha Language Corpus project.

The Akha identity is best defined as contained in their language. At this time Akha Literature is oral predominantly, in the words of elders, normally passed down to the young people in this fashion. However, western missions are bent on destroying this literature and identity by taking the Akha children or banning the culture in "converted" villages. For this reason it is crucial that the Akha langauge and literature be committed to paper for these security reasons. As well, the marking of tone is absolutely required to write accurately in Akha. Without a comlete dictionary committed to paper, with the tone marked accurately, there can be no stable basis for Akha written literature. That includes writing that the Akha will do now and in the future. Confusion will not help this tradition. For that reason we must have funding for this continued project in the four countries where the Akha reside in order to continue to add to the manuscripts which we now have to build up a complete library of Akha traditional literature and stories. Even now we have lost many valuable elders and their stories, before we could record them. The forced and coercive practice of western missions who would eliminate 95% of their identity included in the traditional langauge and recitals, is making this problem worse and our response efforts more urgent.

 

For this project we need an initial minimum of $3,000 to $4000 to cover computer costs and a minimum of $1200 per month to distribute to writers, editors and their recording, transcribing expenses. We are doing this over a four country area. At least one year but this project is ongoing.

 

4. Mobilization of Akha for Human Rights Violation Reporting in Thailand. This project requires $1,000 for training Akhas in Thailand to report human rights violations. Distribution of portable cameras, and their use. Training on computers and how to use email to transmit photos and detailed reports. A one year project.

 

As in all other areas of our project, all results and materials from these projects will be available on line.

 

Matthew McDaniel

The Akha Heritage Foundation

Prominent indigenous leaders in Northern Cauca have been kidnapped or assassinated by the Farc, which seeks to be the exclusive voice of Colombia's poor. And indigenous authorities had been informed that the Farc wanted Rozental dead. For months rumours had circulated that he was the worst thing you can be in the books of a leftwing guerrilla movement: a CIA agent. But there had been other rumours too, spread through the media by government officials. They held that Rozental was the worst thing you can be in the books of a rightwing, Bush-bankrolled politician: an "international terrorist".

On October 27 the association, representing the roughly 110,000 Nasa indians in the region, issued an angry communique: "Manuel is no terrorist. He is no paramilitary. He is no agent of the CIA. He is a part of our community who must not be silenced by bullets." The Nasa leaders say they know why Rozental, now living in exile, has come under threat. It is the same reason that two peaceful indigenous villages in Northern Cauca were turned into war zones in April after the Farc attacked police posts, which the government used as an excuse for a full-scale occupation.

All of this is happening because the indigenous movement in Cauca, as in much of Latin America, is on a roll. In the past year the Nasa of Northern Cauca have held the largest anti-government protests in recent Colombian history and organised local referendums against free trade that had a turnout of 70%, higher than any official election (with a near-unanimous no result). And in September thousands took over two large haciendas, forcing the government to make good on a long-promised land settlement. All these actions unfolded under the protection of the Nasa's unique Indigenous Guard, who patrol their territory armed only with sticks.

In a country ruled by M16s, AK47s, pipe bombs and Black Hawk helicopters, this combination of militancy and nonviolence is unheard of. And that is the quiet miracle the Nasa have accomplished; they have revived the hope that died when paramilitaries systematically slaughtered leftwing politicians, including dozens of elected officials and two Unión Patriótica presidential candidates. At the end of the bloody campaign in the early 90s, the Farc understandably concluded that engaging in open politics was a suicide mission. The key to the Nasa's success, Rozental says, is that they are not trying to take over state institutions, which "have lost all legitimacy". They are instead "building a new legitimacy based on an indigenous and popular mandate that has grown out of participatory congresses, assemblies and elections. Our process and our alternative institutions have put the official democracy to shame. That's why the government is so angry."

The Nasa have shattered the illusion, cherished by both sides, that Colombia's conflict can be reduced to a binary war. Their free-trade referendums have been imitated by non-indigenous unions, students, farmers and local politicians nationwide; their land takeovers have inspired other indigenous and peasant groups to do the same. A year ago 60,000 marched demanding peace and autonomy; last month those demands were echoed by simultaneous marches in 32 of Colombia's provinces. Each action, explains Hector Mondragon, a Colombian economist and activist, "has had a multiplier effect".

Across Latin America a similarly explosive multiplier effect is under way, with indigenous movements redrawing the continent's political map, demanding not just "rights" but a reinvention of the state along deeply democratic lines. In Bolivia and Ecuador, indigenous groups have shown that they have the power to topple governments. In Argentina, when mass protests ousted five presidents in 2001 and 2002, the words of Mexico's Zapatistas were shouted on the streets of Buenos Aires.

Facing mass protests in Argentina yesterday during the Summit of the Americas, George Bush saw that the spirit of that revolt is alive and well. And although Bush didn't take up Hugo Chávez's offer to hold an open debate on the merits of "free trade", that debate has already happened in the continent's streets and ballot boxes, and Bush has lost. Consider this: the last time these 34 heads of state got together, it was April 2001 in Quebec City; it was Bush's first summit after his election, and he announced with great confidence that the Free Trade Area of the Americas would be law by 2005. Now, four years later, many of the faces of his colleagues have changed and Bush can't even get the free-trade area on the agenda, let alone get it signed.

As in Colombia, there are attempts across the continent to paint the indigenous-inspired movements as terrorist. Not surprisingly, Washington is offering both military and ideological assistance. Congress has approved a doubling of the number of US soldiers in Colombia and there has been a marked increase in US troop activity in Paraguay, worryingly near to the Bolivian border, which could move decisively to the left in upcoming elections. A recent study by the US national intelligence council warned that indigenous movements, although peaceful now, could "consider more drastic means" in the future.

Indigenous movements are indeed a threat to the free-trade policies Bush is hawking, with ever fewer buyers, across Latin America. Their power comes not from terror but a terror-resistant strain of hope, so sturdy it can take root in the midst of Colombia's seemingly hopeless civil war. If it can grow there, it can anywhere.

A version of this article appears in the Nation Thenation.com

------end of article-----

--------------------

Drug Wars and "Holy" Wars.
Fundamentalists gone WILD!
MMM (Global Million Marijuana March):
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/cannabisaction

Most were civilians:

Journalistic Zapatismo

Marcos by Latuff

Marcos, the writer (the journalist!) found humor in the seeming futility of launching “a war of words” into the din of an over-mediated world, where ideas do not easily gain traction. From his earliest known essay, the 1992 “Chiapas: The Southeast In Two Winds, a Storm and a Prophecy,” first published in 1994, he addressed the problem of media. His text brought the reader along on a tour through the impoverished Mexican state of Chiapas:

In Ocosingo and Palenque, Cancue and Chilón, Altamirano and Yajalón, the Indigenous people are celebrating. A new gift from the supreme government has made life a little happier for the peons, small landowners, landless campesinos and impoverished inhabitants of the ejidos. They have been given a local radio station that reaches the most isolated corners of eastern Chiapas. The station’s programming is fitting: Marimbas and rap music proclaim the good news. The Chiapaneco countryside is being modernized. XEOCH transmits from the township of Ocosingo and can be found at 600 Mhz AM from four in the morning till 10 at night. Its news shows abound with lies. They tell of the “disorientation” that “subversive” lay-workers spread among the peasantry, the abundance of aid credits that are never received by the Indigenous communities, and the existence of public works that have never been built. The viceroy is also given time on the air so that he can remind the population with threats that not all is lies and rap music; there are also jails and military bases and a penal code which is the most repressive in the Republic. The penal code punishes any expression of discontent. The laws against demonstrations, rebellion, inciting to riot, etc., demonstrate that the viceroy is careful to maintain everything in order…

Marcos reported the existence of a different voice, a voice “from below.” He called it a wind…

Not everyone hears the voices of hopelessness and conformity. Not everyone is carried away by hopelessness. There are millions of people who continue on without hearing the voices of the powerful and the indifferent. They can’t hear; they are deafened by the crying and blood that death and poverty are shouting in their ears. But, when there is a moment of rest, they hear another voice. They don’t hear the voice that comes from above; they hear the voice that is carried to them by the wind from below, a voice that is born in the Indigenous heart of the mountains. This voice speaks to them about justice and freedom, it speaks to them about socialism, about hope…the only hope that exists in the world. The oldest of the old in the Indigenous communities say that there once was a man named Zapata who rose up with his people and sang out, “Land and Freedom!” These old campesinos say that Zapata didn’t die, that he must return. These old campesinos also say that the wind and the rain and the sun tell the campesinos when to cultivate the land, when to plant and when to harvest. They say that hope is also planted and harvested. They also say that the wind and the rain and the sun are now saying something different: that with so much poverty, the time has come to harvest rebellion instead of death. That is what the old campesinos say. The powerful don’t hear; they can’t hear, they are deafened by the brutality that the Empire shouts in their ears. “Zapata,” insists the wind, the wind from below, our wind.

After midnight on January 1, 1994 when the Zapatistas seized four city halls in the region, they also seized another seat of power: the XEOCH radio station. From its occupied studios they broadcasted their declaration of war against the Mexican state and against the global neoliberal economic system. On May 28 of that year, Marcos, in another communiqué, joked, “Yesterday we ate the XEOCH’s control console and two microphones. They had a rancid taste, like something rotten.”

“These old campesinos say that Zapata didn’t die, that he must return. These old campesinos also say that the wind and the rain and the sun tell the campesinos when to cultivate the land, when to plant and when to harvest. They say that hope is also planted and harvested. They also say that the wind and the rain and the sun are now saying something different: that with so much poverty, the time has come to harvest rebellion instead of death.” – Subcomandante Marcos Photo: D.R. 1998 Al Giordano

That was the same communiqué in which Marcos introduced the character of Old Antonio, the chain-smoking indigenous elder who adapts the legends in the ancient Maya book, the Popul Vuh, as modern-day parables: “Old Antonio told me that the golden people were the rich, the whites, and the wooden people were the poor, the ones who forever work for the rich. They are both waiting for the arrival of the corn people. The rich fear their arrival and the poor hope for it. I asked old Antonio what color was the skin of the corn people, and he showed me several types of corn with different colors. He told me that they were of every sort of skin color, but that nobody knew exactly, because the corn people don’t have faces.” It was also the same communiqué that the hunted rebel spokesman issued the much-quoted postscript: “To those of you who are wondering if Marcos is homosexual: Marcos is a gay person in San Francisco, a black person in South Africa, an Asian person in Europe, a Chicano in San Isidro, an anarchist in Spain, a Palestinian in Israel, an indigenous person in the streets of San Cristóbal… He is every minority who is now beginning to speak and every majority that must shut up and listen. He is every untolerated group searching for a way to speak, their way to speak. Everything that makes Power and the good consciences of those in power uncomfortable – this is Marcos. You’re welcome, dear sirs of the Attorney General’s office. I’m here to serve you… by filling you full of lead.”

Maybe you were reading it then. Or maybe you have read it since. Or maybe you are reading those words for the first time today, in which case you may notice, with a smile, that these are the words of a writer on fire. He’s not writing for money. He’s not auditioning for a sinecure at a glossy magazine or elbowing his way up the ladder to a movie deal. He’s not trying to impress anyone in power. In that essay, he was threatening to shoot them. And that is how he won his freedom of the press at an hour when no other writer enjoyed it.

Again and again, in what now number hundreds of communiqués, the Zapatistas have returned to this quest of “searching for a way to speak.” And they showed the world that the path to authentic freedom of speech does not require sucking up to the Commercial Media, but, rather, by treating it as the adversarial force that it is. For most of the past twelve years, for example, after the national network TV Azteca broadcast a plethora of knowing falsehoods about the indigenous struggle, the Zapatistas have simply refused to talk to the network. And instead of relying on newspapers to tell their story, they tell it themselves, in their communiqués.

Most impressive is that they get their communiqués published in newspapers and across the Internet in full, without editing or censorship. For those of us communicators who have struggled for years against editors and bosses to be able to speak freely through the media, what Marcos achieved as a writer – winning the previously unthinkable right to publish his texts exactly as he submitted them – was an astounding feat. It did not go unnoticed that he and his compañeros first had to take up arms in order to create that editorial space.

When the Mexican government took two Zapatista militants as prisoners in 1996, the rebels seized XEOCH radio again, provoking the state to free their comrades. But as Zapatismo evolved, its doctrine of autonomy from below instead of seizing existing power structures became more refined on the matter of media: Two years ago, the Zapatistas, without pleading license or permission from the government, simply erected their own radio network – Radio Insurgente – broadcasting in Spanish, and the Maya languages of Tzotzil, Tzeltal, Tojolabal and Chol, on five FM frequencies blanketing the state. And the official station, XEOCH, has withered into irrelevancy.

In Latin America there have long been popular models for unlicensed radio in the service of popular struggle, such as Radio Soberanía in Bolivia’s coca-growing region of the Chapare. In Caracas, Venezuela, the pioneering independent neighborhood television network Catia TVe arose from the barrio, challenged, and won from its government the right to broadcast. In recent years, as we’ve wandered around América with our candles lit looking for the people who were also holding candles and also once thought they were alone in it, we’ve introduced these people to each other, and to Narco News readers, through the School of Authentic Journalism and other projects and reports.

What we have lived in recent years is nothing less than a hemispheric laboratory solving the problems of media and communications between peoples. As the Zapatistas of Mexico developed the model for a different kind of journalism, media and speech from below, Community Media stations like Catia TV in Venezuela would hand the Commercial Media its defining defeat – in Napoleonic terms, its Waterloo – and show the world what media from below can do in April of 2002.

The Turning Point

Part of the Commercial Media’s self-perpetuating and profitable mission is to mask how powerful it really is. The rise of media as the seat of power was a silent coup, unspoken, unseen. In place of reporting that story – indeed the most significant story of the late 20th century in terms of its impact on people’s daily lives – its “journalists” kept telling us that we had governments, elections, that we could choose the men in power. After all, election campaigns are very profitable for media companies, the primary beneficiaries of all that advertising. It’s the perfect con. It maintains the public illusion that we live in “democracies” and can choose who makes decisions for us.

And since things often go awry, the media provides a never-ending list of scapegoats to point the finger at, including elected officials, who simply get replaced by another elected official, who promises “change,” and only those who can raise buckets of money (that is to say, who serve the interests of those who have it) can get near the microphone and have a chance at competing. The golden rule of this con is that presidents can come and go, governments can change hands from one party to another, as long as none of these cowards confront the economic powers of which Commercial Media is gatekeeper.

Your alienated manifesto-writer noted in 1997 that “a popular revolt against media… upon gathering sufficient steam, may in fact have the effect of forcing the powers behind the screens to uncloak.” A year later, in a country called América, a former paratrooper and once-imprisoned leader of a failed rebellion, Hugo Chávez, won an election for the presidency of Venezuela. But the Media’s script for yet another politician promising change to be domesticated did not go according to plan. A major fissure erupted between the Media and the State and its repercussions – including today’s launch of Telesur – are still exploding.

Charlie Hardy displays a Venezuelan newspaper with an article censored by a pre-Chávez government at the 2003 Narco News School of Authentic Journalism in Mexico. Photo: D.R. 2003 Jeremy Bigwood

The big media barons were also upset that the Chávez government would not harass the small, neighborhood, Community TV and radio stations that were gaining popularity parallel to his own rise. The truth is that, prior to 2002, the Chávez government, although it did not repress the Community Media movement, did not embrace it either. That came later. But it was a thorn in the side of the Commercial Media that these small TV and radio stations from below existed even though, being nonprofit, they did not compete for advertising money. Miguel Angel Martínez, president of the private-sector Chamber of Radio Broadcasters has railed that the Community TV and radio stations are “illegal,” should be shutdown, and has publicly advocated that commercial broadcasters “interfere” with the low-power signals of the smaller media from below. The motives for such threats probably have more to do with the role that the Community Media stations are playing in Civil Society’s rising political consciousness: Nothing is more annoying, or discrediting, to professional liars than pesky truth tellers showing them as such with regularity. On the day that the Commercial Media can no longer maintain public illusions will be the day that its entire racket crumbles.

Another factor in what is now an adversarial relationship between the Chávez government and the Commercial Media is that Chávez didn’t just tax or criticize the media – he became the media. In 2000, Chávez started his own TV show – Alo Presidente! – and with a very different format than, say, the weekly radio monologues by George W. Bush in Washington or Vicente Fox in Mexico City. Every Sunday, on VTV - Venezolana de Televisión (Channel 8) – and Radio Nacional Venezolana (RNV) – Chávez brings all his cabinet secretaries into the studio (sometimes the show goes out into the provinces, too), as well as a live studio audience, and he takes phone calls from the public. If a caller mentions, say, a problem at a local school, Chávez then calls the Education Minister up on camera, asks him how the problem will be fixed, and comes back a week later to report how the problem was fixed.

President Hugo Chávez on the set of Alo Presidente! Photo: D.R. 2002 Al Giordano

So, as everybody now knows, in April of 2002 the Commercial Media in Venezuela, including international media companies that “report” about Venezuela, participated openly in fomenting and supporting a violent coup d’etat.

Or maybe not everybody knows yet? In which case let’s take a brief stroll down amnesia lane and summarize our report when it happened: Three Days That Shook the Media, in which an elected president was kidnapped at gunpoint by rogue military officials as the Commercial Media – national and international – shouted in unison a big lie, that “Chávez resigned.” A new “president,” oilman Pedro Carmona, was installed. His first actions were to shut down the public television and radio stations, raid the Community TV and radio stations, dissolve Congress and the Courts, and launch a house-by-house search to round up members of Congress, political leaders, journalists, and others that were unlikely to recognize his legitimacy.

Media barons like the aforementioned Miguel Angel Martínez signed the decree supporting the Carmona “government.” The New York Times cheered the coup in an editorial. Its correspondent Juan Forero dispatched an immediate puff piece titled “Manager and Conciliator – Pedro Carmona Estanga.” The Inter-American Press Association, the trade group of the owners of commercial daily newspapers in América issued a statement cheering the coup: “President Robert J. Cox said today that political developments in Venezuela demonstrate to nations throughout the world that there can be no true democracy without free speech and press freedom.”

As Le Monde Diplomatique reported, the military vice admiral that led the coup went on national TV, on the Venevision network, and boasted, “We had a deadly weapon: the media. And now that I have the opportunity, let me congratulate you.”

And there they were, our deer in the headlights: the Commercial Media uncloaked, bearing its anti-democracy teeth, and the first grand battle of Journalism’s Civil War began.

A then 32-year-old worker at the Catia Community TV station that had been raided and shut down by the coup forces, Blanca Eekhout, and her colleagues gathered and decided to fight back. They went to the closed public television station, Channel 8, broke the padlocks off the doors, overpowered the police, and put the station back on the air with a call for the people to fight back against the coup. As Chávez minister Jesse Chacón later acknowledged, the recovery of Channel 8 was “owed, in great measure, to the help given by Community Broadcaster Catia TV. Its people were already taking great risks, among them their lives, but they helped to retake the transmitter. Their lives were in danger throughout those days. Their own headquarters had been raided. They succeeded in escaping. They took their cameras and stayed mobile, as did the people from Radio Perola. There was a very fierce persecution against them, something that has not been reported in the daily newspapers.”

Blanca Eekhout Photo: D.R. 2003 Al Giordano

And so Pedro Carmona would go down in history as “dictator for a day.” The coup collapsed, and the elected president was restored to power. One of the heroines of our story, Blanca Eekhout, of the Narco News School of Authentic Journalism, is now the director of the public television network she and her colleagues brought back to life.

Drug Wars and "Holy" Wars.
Fundamentalists gone WILD!
MMM (Global Million Marijuana March):
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/cannabisaction

Most were civilians:

Drug Wars and "Holy" Wars.
Fundamentalists gone WILD!
MMM (Global Million Marijuana March):
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/cannabisaction

Most were civilians:

From: "Bulletin Antiprohibitionist" <liafax@...>
Subject: LIAFAX [EN] N.42
Date: Thu, 27 Oct 2005 04:54:08 +0200

	Sign the appeal to reform the UN Conventions on Drugs e-Newsletter on the world campaign for the reform of the UN Conventions on Drugs #.42 - YEAR II - 26 October 2005 Published in   NEWS FROM THE LIA : 21/10/2005 DRUGS: UNODC TO OPEN OFFICE IN BEIJING, THE DANGEROUS LIAISONS OF PROHIBITIONISTS Chinese Government Enthusiastic about Future Partnerships, Signs Memorandum of Intent According to the UN Information Service, on 19 October, the Government of China, represented by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA), and the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) signed a Memorandum of Intent (MOI) which paves the way for the establishment of a UNODC programme in Beijing. UNODC Director Antonio Maria Costa and MFA Assistant Minister Shen Guofang also discussed possible strategies to further reduce the impact of illicit drugs in the region. Both officials agreed that a balanced approach, focusing on both prevention and control, is critical in the campaign to eliminate drugs and crime. In a UNIS press release, Mr. Costa was quoted as saying "This MOI is tangible evidence that the Chinese Government is both serious and forward-looking regarding the drug and crime problems it faces. China recognizes the need for international cooperation to counter non-traditional security threats -- drug production and trafficking in particular." adding also that "China is taking the lead, meeting these threats head-on, and in many cases, stopping drugs even before they cross that nation's borders. The Government is also sharing best practices in drug control with its neighbours -- exactly the kind of outreach we need to see in Asia right now." Marco Perduca, Executive Director of the International Antiprohibitionist League and UN Representative for the Transnational Radical Party commented on the UNODC-China agreement rimind how “until 2004 China used to execute people in public on the occasion of the 'celebrations' of the International Day Against Drugs- if sure a head-on response, killing traffickers, and 'addicts' is not necessarily the most humanitarian among the best practices available in the field of 'drug control'”. The new Programme Office, set to open in 2006, will focus initially on the threat of HIV/AIDS, which is spreading via injecting drug use, and, in some cases, through a lack of awareness regarding sexual transmission. The UNODC Office in Beijing will also target the fast expanding trafficking and consumption of amphetamines, control of precursor chemicals, illicit manufacture and trafficking in drugs, as well as drug prevention, treatment, and rehabilitation. Mr. Perduca, who recently participated in a conference on drug policies in Tiblisi, was also particularly skeptical on the type of forward looking commitment that an autoritarian country like China could ensure on issues such as HIV/AIDS; “in fact,” steted IAL Director “just like her avian flu cases a couple of years ago, China has been in denial both on its AIDS crisis - which originated from the selling of blood by desperatly poor peasants kept in the dark about the existance of the virus and not because of intravenous drug injection - and the issue of narcotics consumption. Knowing too well how the Chinese Government operates to 'control' the activities of the Chinese people, we can only expect hundreds of new little and silent tienammens around the country sanctioned by the agreementy with UNODC for the sake of ridding China of evil substances. This is certainly not what UN Agencies should be about”. After the announced Mr. Costa also said "China's enthusiastic welcome for a new UNODC Programme Office in Beijing holds great promise for our partnership against illegal drugs. UNODC can advise nations committed to countering drugs, and offer technical assistance, but we cannot do it alone," adding that "there's an old saying, 'actions speak louder than words,' and China's willingness to take this very important step bodes well for everyone involved. UNODC looks forward to working with the Chinese Government, to turning plans into progress, and to getting the new Office in Beijing up and running as quickly as possible." “Would the noise of police raids and the scream of tortured suspected Chinese 'drug traffickers' or 'users' be loud enough for Mr. Costa?” concluded Mr. Perduca. ----------------------------------------------------------- ITALY Giulio Manfredi of the Comitato Nazionale Radicali Italiani: Lapo Elkann’s case, just one more of the endless and needless products of prohibitionism, should prompt reflection. As the law now stands, as a user he is subject only to minor sanctions, but if the Lex Fini passes he would be considered a pusher on the basis of the quantity which he as admitted to owning.  NEWS FROM THE WORLD IrelandOn-Line 18-10-2005 EUROPEAN UNION / IRISH REPUBLIC NEW IDEAS The Health Department is about to launch the country’s first anti-cannabis campaign. Radio announcements and posters will warn youths about the dangers and seek to dispel the notion that use is harmless. Join Togheter 18-10-2005 NORTH AMERICA / USA – Colorado STUDIES ‘Nicotine causes cancer, but the THC in cannabis could protect smokers from absorbing carcinogens agents in marijuana smoke –– thus Robert Melamede, author of a University of Colorado research project. Xinua 17-10-2005 CHINA NEW IDEAS The general population and several business firms have become engaged in anti-drug campaigns in seven major cities. Zhang Xinfeng, vice director of the National Anti-Narcotic Commission and vice-minister of Public Security that in some venues, especially karaoke bars, there has been an increase in the use of methamphetamines. Financial Times 18-10-2005 NORTH AMERICA / UNITED STATES PRODUCTION Oil-rig workers in Texas, Colorado, Louisiana and elsewhere who had been caught making and using methamphetamines were fired on the spot. They had caused, it was said, slow-ups in production and therefore increases in petroleum and fuel prices. Canada.com 17-10-2005 NORTH AMERICA / CANADA – Toronto PUBLIC HEALTH' If a pending proposal will be approved, Toronto would become Canada’s second major city to pass out free clean syringes and to set aside public venues for addicts. Proposed anti-drug policies are to be based on the four principles of Prevention, Damage Reduction, Therapy and Law Enforcement. The city council will debate and vote between the 5th and 9th of December. Ansa; Corriere della sera 17-10-2005 EUROPEAN UNION / ITALY PUBLIC HEALTH In Milan, the person responsible for the conduct of an Onlus that runs a nursing home has been charged with procuring joints of cannabis for a severely ill cancer victim in an effort to relieve his/her suffering. ‘To forbid the therapeutic use of hashish is cruelty’ says MP Paulo Cento of the Green Party. ‘Don’t our Carabinieri and anti-drug squads have anything more urgent to attend to?’ asks Radicali Euro-MP Dr.Vittorio Agnoletto, M.D. Abc 17-10-2005 OCEANIA / AUSTRALIA – New South Wales CONSUMPTION Public Health minister John Hatzistergos says that the reduction in drug use is to be credited to the government. Since 1999, heroin use is down by fifty-five per cent, and there is a down-trend in cocaine, cannabis and speed use. But the upsurge of ecstasy is worrisome. Ansa 15-10-2005 EUROPEAN UNION / UNITED KINGDOM CURIOSITY Tory leadership candidate, the thirty-nine-year-old David Cameron, won’t talk about his past use of drugs, thus increasing journalists’ pique. As an MP ha voted in favour of softening out-of-date drug laws and has proposed the legalisation of diamorphine –– the medical term for heroin –– by prescription for addicts to help them ‘stabilise’ their needs and kick the habit Join Together 14-10-2005 NORTH AMERICA / USA – New Jersey THERAPEUTIC MARIJUANA All gubernatorial candidates favour therapeutic administration of marijuana. ‘When faced with certain realities we must offer every possible medical means’ says Republican Doug Forrester, and his Democratic opponent Jon Corzine echoes it with ‘We must do all we can in aid of the sufferers’. ------------------------------------------- Editor in Chief: Marco Perduca Director: Vincenzo Donvito Layout & Distribution: C.E.D. Roma To SUBSCRIBE To UNSUBSCRIBE If you wish not to receive this bulletin, send a message without modifying the object of the email . Important: please send a message from the email address that you want to delete from our emailing list.

 

-----end of forwarded email------

Drug Wars and "Holy" Wars.
Fundamentalists gone WILD!
MMM (Global Million Marijuana March):
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/cannabisaction

Most were civilians:

Drug Wars and "Holy" Wars. Led by
braindead spiritless fundamentalists hogtied to their religious texts.
Fortunately, such fake spirituality is becoming more despised daily worldwide.

Most were civilians:

MMM (Global Million Marijuana March).
First Saturday in May, or that weekend, or thereabouts.
Hundreds of different cities worldwide. Email list and public archive:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/cannabisaction

To: akhaweeklyjournal@yahoogroups.com
From: Matthew McDaniel <akhalife@...>
Date: Mon, 17 Oct 2005 06:36:48 -0700 (PDT)
Subject: [AkhaWeeklyJournal] Akha Journal: Czech Movie, Web Hits, Current Situation, Genocidal US Drug War

Dear Friends:

 

Things are tough enough. We keep helping how we can in the villages, there is a lot of fever and malaria and no food, no mosquito nets, a real big mess.

 

There is no alternative for it, the US DEA, the UNDP, the UNODC all got together and decided that no opium was better than a lot of dead Akha and that is what happened, America super cop creating a genocide of a mother of a drug war on the poorest of the poor, America the believer in some kind of fascist freedom, there are no other words for it.

 

It makes one ashamed to be an American when seeing what was done here. I have never seen people in real life as poor as this and after 13 years in Thailand and Burma one might think they had seen most of it.

 

Smug fat NGO's, lots of dead Akha, and no one who can explain why the Akha don't have mosquito nets or food or health care.

 

It makes me puke to think that an untold number of these Akha were killed for the insane US Drug War and that the UN and US people who did it really don't care who was effected. There is no excuse for it. I hear a lot of excuses though, what uncle sam does just has to be right, doesn't matter how impoverished people are while safe america calls the shots.

 

The Czech Movie on Missionaries in Thailand was a big hit, lots of good comments.

 

The website has gone over a million hits since Jan. 2004. Not bad.

 

A couple bucks buys a mosquito net here, we put out what we can.

 

Matthew McDaniel

The Akha Heritage Foundation.
http://www.akha.org Akha Heritage Site.

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Akhaweeklyjournal
Discussion http://groups.yahoo.com/group/akha
Donate Via Credit Card Paypal:

https://www.paypal.com/xclick/business=akha%40akha.org

PO Box 6073 Salem, OR. 97304 USA.

 

 

---

Drug Wars and "Holy" Wars. Led by
braindead spiritless fundamentalists hogtied to their religious texts.
Fortunately, such fake spirituality is becoming more despised daily worldwide.

Most were civilians:

MMM (Global Million Marijuana March).
First Saturday in May, or that weekend, or thereabouts.
Hundreds of different cities worldwide. Email list and public archive:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/cannabisaction

Drug Wars and "Holy" Wars. Led by
braindead spiritless fundamentalists hogtied to their religious texts.
Fortunately, such fake spirituality is becoming more despised daily worldwide.

Most were civilians:

MMM (Global Million Marijuana March).
First Saturday in May, or that weekend, or thereabouts.
Hundreds of different cities worldwide. Email list and public archive:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/cannabisaction