rick's blog

On June 4, 2008 some 200 Mexican troops and police engaged in aggressive actions against Zapatistas in the Patiwitz Canyon of the Lacandon Jungle. Specifically the heavily armed military / police convoy entered the corn and banana fields surrounding Zapatista communities. This threat to the communities' only food supplies provoked a desperate response by Mayan boys and girls, women, and men.  read more »

 Come See: UN POQUITO DE TANTA VERDAD (a little bit of so much truth)

This is a great documentary about the events in Oaxaca Mexico in the summer of 2006. It focuses on the role of community radio in coordinating the mobilizations of the people. In doing so it also gives a flavor of the spirit of the people in this largely indigenous region of Mexico. THIS IS A FREE EVENT! We think people should see it if they haven't.

Wednesday February 6th, 7pm @ TRADITIONS Fair Trade Cafe, 5th & Water St.

The Olympia-Rafah Mural Art Project presents...
Up Against the Wall—from Palestine to Mexico

Friday, January 25th, St. John’s Episcopal Church Parish Hall, 7 p.m.

Carlos Marentes of Comité Pro-Amnistía General y Justicia Social in Seattle and Susan Greene of Break the Silence Mural Project in the Bay Area will present Up Against the Wall—from Palestine to Mexico, Friday, January 25th, 7 p.m., in the Parish Hall at St. John’s Episcopal Church, 114 20th Ave SE in Olympia .  read more »

by Michael I. Niman

Remember when plastic used to break? You know, really break, as in shatter. Now it kind of bounces. The difference is that much of our modern plastic is vitamin-fortified with additives called phthalates. Phthalates protect plastic by making it more malleable, but a growing number of scientific studies suggest that while protecting plastic, certain phthalates are poisoning people. More specifically, they are carcinogens, they’re potentially toxic to our livers and kidneys, and juvenile exposure in males may lower lifelong testosterone levels, physiologically feminizing men while lowering their sperm counts. But hey, that’s some fine plastic we’ve got there.  read more »

PROTEST AGAINST MILITARIZATION OF NEW YORK CITY CONTAINER TERMINAL
Next Left Notes

STATEN ISLAND, NY – This Friday, January 18, 2008, members of Students for a Democratic Society (SDS), Movement for a Democratic Society ( MDS) and the Port Militarization Resistance (PMR) project, Midatlantic Region, are holding coordinated protests in Manhattan and Staten Island.  read more »

Jammers and creatives,
Today is our big moment in court. Ever since the first issue of
Adbusters was published seventeen years ago we've been fighting to
break the corporate monopoly on access to the airwaves. After
countless delays, and over $100,000 spent on legal fees, we've
arrived at a critical juncture in the case. At issue is our
freedom of speech on the most powerful social communications
medium of our time, television.

Below is a copy of our press release as well as a sneak preview of
an article that will appear in the upcoming issue of Adbusters (on
newsstands February 18th). Please give us your support by getting
the word out there.  read more »

URGENT ACTION ALERT!! DEADLINE APPROACHING!
YUCCA MOUNTAIN, SACRED TO THE SHOSHONE & MAJOR FAULT ZONE, IN IMMINENT DANGER!
DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY MOVES PLANS FORWARD TO TURN YUCCA MOUNTAIN INTO NUCLEAR WASTE REPOSITORY.
PUBLIC COMMENT PERIOD DEADLINE JANUARY 10, 2008.  read more »

By Bill Quigley
t r u t h o u t | Report/Perspective Monday 03 December 2007

On the 12th day before Christmas, the US Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) is planning to unleash teams of bulldozers to demolish thousands of low-income apartments in New Orleans. Despite Katrina causing the worst affordable housing crisis since the Civil War, HUD is spending $762 million in taxpayer funds to tear down over 4,600 public housing subsidized apartments and replace them with 744 similarly subsidized units - an 82 percent reduction.  read more »

Some of the local farmers and CSA's to our south were hard hit by the recent flooding.

This provides updated information about donation drops and how to volunteer.  read more »

Published on Thursday, December 6, 2007 by The Albany Times-Union
New study shows people who lived near or worked at former munitions factory in Colonie have depleted uranium in their bodies
by Jordan Carleo-Evangelist

COLONIE, NY - Former workers at a Cold War-era munitions plant and nearby residents still carry traces of toxic depleted uranium in their bodies, a team of scientists said Wednesday.1206 03

The findings, unveiled at a news conference, seem to contradict an earlier assessment by the federal government that deemed it impossible to measure contamination because it had been so long since the emissions ended.  read more »

"Many of the women who contracted cancer were the mothers, the aunties, and the sisters. They cleaned the clothes for their sons, brothers, and husbands who went to work in the mines. A lot of the time people were doing double shifts at the mine sites, so people would come home after 16 hours of work and literally take their coats off and fall asleep, not change their clothing or anything."
– Deb Abrahamson

Deb Abrahamson, SHAWL Society
(Sovereignty, Health, Air, Water and Land)  read more »

by new orleans indymedia team Friday, Nov. 16, 2007 at 8:12 PM

Many activists believe New Orleans is a test ground for the US Government to demolish public housing across the nation and replace it with "mixed-income" developments that would displace thousands of families. Pledge to come to New Orleans and resist this privatization of public housing!

Many activists believe New Orleans is a test ground for the US Government to demolish public housing across the nation and replace it with "mixed-income" developments. According to HANO's contracts with developers, 82% of the pre-storm units would be lost in the development process.  read more »

This is great news. The Mojave power plant runs on coal from the strip mine which has been driving the relocation of Navajo (Dineh) people. Media Island at it's beginnings worked on this issue. As well the Olympia Big Mountain Support Group did incredible work helping make this issue known nationally.

Feds Failed to Consider Harmful Impacts to Sacred Springs  read more »

By Arthem Chapeye, Indymedia Ukraine | 11.15.2007
November 17. Kyiv, Ukraine. Grasstroot organizing.
People in different insurgent costumes protest against illegal government-sponsored construction in a World Heritage Site.
please take the following call into serious consideration.

President of Ukraine (with family) and Ministry of Foreign Affairs of
Ukraine destroy UNESCO World Heritage Site

Ukraine: thousands gather in the "Rebel Carnival" in the historical
center of Kyiv to prevent the crime against history.  read more »

President Uribe urged to protect SINALTRAINAL leaders, stem paramilitaries

Pittsburgh – Leo W. Gerard, president of the United Steelworkers (USW) today released a letter sent to Colombian President Alvaro Uribe Velez to urge “all actions necessary to protect the lives of the SINALTRAINAL members, its leaders and their families.”  read more »