Category: Uncategorized

Activists Will Stand With Wikileaks: Free Julian Assange for Peace. #FreeJulian

By Dustin Micheli ~ Press Monkey Media.

It has been almost 11 weeks since Wikileaks founder and editor Julian Assange had his communication and internet connection access rescinded by the Ecuadorian Government, in the London based Ecuadorian embassy where he still is maintaining residence and asylum.

The Ecuadorian Government, who recently granted Assange citizenship and is also threatening to revoke his asylum, perhaps understandably felt more than pressured to capitulate to the bellicose and aggressive behavior of the  dangerous government powers such as the United Kingdom and United States.

Assange’s calling into question the official UK government narrative launched before actual investigation was done on the poisoning of a former Russian Spy and his daughter was the least of Assange’s transgressions against the United States and United Kingdom governments.

The  powers that be have made it  clear that there is nothing they find to be more dangerous and harmful to them than being exposed to us. They feel threatened by the very  idea that we might become less subordinate and  more informed.  

This is partially why what Assange and Wikileaks stand for and have done for us all is so important and so dangerous.

Wikileaks is a treasure trove of insight into the inner working of and dangerous dealings of the of the world political elites and what they are willing to do to further their totalitarian imperialist agendas.

Every person who values transparency, justice, truth and accountability should be calling for and demanding freedom and justice for Julian and exoneration from prosecution for publishing leaked documents. After all, if the government is supposed to work for us, then shouldn’t we be allowed to know exactly what it is doing? Shouldn’t exposing them be a matter of prudence and obligation of a democratic minded citizenry?

You owe it to yourself to spend some time looking over any number of the leaked documents and archived material published always first by WikiLeaks, because they do not release information already published in other publications, they have a  more than ten year record of 100% accurate  independently  verified and authenticated information and leaks. 

  Quick FYI : WikiLeaks is a multi-national media organization and associated library of 100% accurate and verified leaks and information. It is free to visit the website and legal to download these archives and documents for your own information, research , and/ or reporting.

The numerous pages and volumes of information exposed in the publications of Wikileaks will keep a room full of journalists and activists busy for years to come trying to sift through the otherwise unknown information and documentation. 

The hours I have spent looking over the text in WikiLeaks, from the Podesta files and emails, to the Afghanistan files, prisoner treatment in Cuba at GITMO and the exposure of the mass surveillance state and FISA courts have been invaluable. 

 To say there are some unfound and untold stories still undiscovered and unreported in the Wikileaks publications would be an understatement I assure you.

 So anyone wishing to cut their shoestring journalistic teeth would be well served to glance over and consider examining and analyzing any number of the un reported on data and info provided by the Wikileaks.org website.

( Picture above: Julian Assange outside entrance to Ecuadorian embassy) 

As Julian spends his sixth year holed up in the Ecuadorian embassy as a political pariah and prisoner, it’s hard to not think of him as a kind of Journalistic Lenny Bruce paying for the sins of transparency activists and journalists everywhere. Many of whom have benefited from or re reported on information and revelations uncovered by the WikiLeaks publications.

  Picture: Lenny Bruce

Much as the comic and entertainment world benefited from the professional sacrifice that the late Lenny Bruce made for the sins of free speech and comic performance. Clearing the way for comics later to come and benefit from those battles and liberties already hard fought  for and won.

One of the things I realized as I read through the  WikiLeaks publications and archives was how dull all the communicates between many of them really are.  No wonder regular people can’t stand to sit and read any of it.  The dullness of  the Podesta leaks that expose how the DNC, Hillary Clinton, many mainstream media outlets, the White House, department of Justice were all rigging the Democratic primary against Bernie Sanders and the progressive movement he represented before he threw the  race and got behind Hillary “ Gold Standard” Clinton. 

 It all sounds juicier when I frame it like that than the actual communicates between the various parties would reflect. The impact of what they were saying and doing was far more substantial than the e mails themselves were colorful about their context. Perhaps,  that is why for your casual observer the findings might seem, dry obscure or meaningless, but I assure you they are not. 

Consider the gravity,implications and the amount of power and  influence at play. Consider all the supposed talent and accomplishment that were coalescing around the Clinton campaign to try and make her the next President of the United States.

Considering everything they were willing to do  and sacrifice to accomplish that, you might think that the  vernacular they used would be a little more cleaver, creative,  or colorful.  The content of said e mails were so dry that it was surprising they were able to be “leaked” at all.

 As a side note: Randy Credico to his cedit…O Got himself thrown out of the recent White House Press Correspondence Dinner before the show actually began.

( Picture above: Randy Credico) 

 Randy Credico, who is a comedian, activist and journalist was reported to be walking around the event loudly pronouncing his support as well as trying to enlist it from those in the room for the Wikileaks founder.

Credico is a known associate, acquaintance and friend of Julian Assange and one of the last non-official people to have contact with Assange besides Assange’s attorneys.  

As a shoestring journalist, activist and truth bringer I feel that it is of paramount importance and responsibility for us to band together to support Julian Assange, we need to try and work for his secure release and relocation before something happens and it’s too late.

If Ecuador suspends or ends his asylum and forces him to leave the security of the  embassy, what are we going to do? We cant just leave him to the mercy of the war hawks, we must try something.

I, Know, “but what? ”

I don’t know, but we better start thinking of something fast.

I would not be the activist or motivated truth bringer that  I am today without the WikiLeaks publications and what they revealed to us and taught me.

Nor would I feel I have the obligation, and mandate to do so without the example of his courageousness and effort to inform us all in the face of murderous and powerful adversity that Julian Assange has demonstrated, yet here we are.  

I don’t know what or how we are to do this, but we must  try to secure Julian Assange’s release and safe transport to somewhere safe in Ecuador. Even if we have to have some covert extraction or massive human shield barrier between us and the aggressive authorities should they try to take him into custody.

 I know this sounds like its scary, dangerous and an impossible situation. It is , but so is the impossible situation and choices we are left with.  We cannot afford to shrug our responsibility to one of our  fellows, one of our own and one who has achieved so much for the sake of truth and transparency. At least I cannot. 

We should not just leave Assange to the tender mercy of the so-called justice system,  run by  the jackals that maintain torture prisons outside of Cuba ,whom are known  torture whistle blowers as a matter of course like as what happened with Chelsea Manning.

Those who  have officially called for his Assange’s  assassination on more than a few occasions, branded him as a dangerous agent of Russian espionage or somehow worse. it’s hard to imagine he will be given any kind of fair adjudication or due process for whatever trumped up charged they decide to throw at him.

What Julian is and does is what represents truth and the ultimate challenge to holding power and corruption accountable when and where we can. 

I think the urgency of these actions and spreading of the message to help free Julian Assange is one of the most important things we can do right now.  Please, if you truly value a free media, transparency and holding those who are in power accountable  then you will join us and speak out to Free Julian Assange. #FreeJulian for peace and transparency. 

Peace, Activism, and Bananas My Friends

 

 

 

 

Alex Jones Happens to see Bernie Sanders at Airport and Confronts Him

Monday, June 4, 2018

Alex Jones Happens to see Bernie Sanders at Airport and Confronts Him

Info-Wars Founder Alex Jones was on vacation, and happened to see who he called “The King of Communism” Bernie Sanders at LA International Airport. Alex Jones then confronts Senator Sanders about the rigging of the 2016 election, and his support for the “Beast Master” former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. Senator Sanders immediately became uncomfortable, and fled the scene as a crowd cheered. It shows that the Senator’s none address of the stealing of the 2016 Democrat Primary from him was by design.

Earlier this year, WikiLeaks exposed that the Democrat primary was rigged in favor of Hillary Clinton. Leaked DNC emails revealed top DNC officials were supportive of Mrs. Clinton and made sure it was difficult, if not impossible for Senator Bernie Sanders to ever win his party’s nomination.

DNC lawyers have just responded to a class-action lawsuit over their primary being rigged, arguing that maintaining a fair and balanced primary was merely a “political promise.”

The lawyers argued that “Courts have uniformly rejected attempts to litigate on the basis of purported political promises, including ‘statements of principle and intent in the political realm.”

Essentially, the DNC’s promise to remain neutral and fair during the primary is a political promise similar to “policy proposals made in campaign platforms that aren’t fulfilled when in office.”

What’s worse is that the DNC’s lawyers claimed that Bernie Sanders’ supporters were aware that the DNC and chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz were biased against their candidate, an argument that has never been substantiated.

Conveniently, the DNC lawyers are the same ones Hilary used throughout her presidential campaign, so it should come as no surprise that her personal lawyers would be defending the DNC’s favorable treatment of the party’s then-nominee.

Posted by The Green News Network

Backlash against US over tariffs

Original Publishing by  the International Committee of the Fourth International (ICFI) on the World Socialist Website at wsws.org

By Nick Beams
2 June 2018
The meeting of G7 finance ministers taking place in Whistler, Canada this weekend has begun with a barrage of criticism directed at US Treasury Secretary Steven Menuhin over the Trump administration’s decision to proceed with tariffs on steel and aluminum exports from Mexico, Canada and the European Union.
On his arrival, German Finance Minister Olaf Scholz immediately denounced the US actions. “The decision by the US government to unilaterally implement tariffs is wrong and—from my point of view—also illegal,” he told reporters. “We have clear rules, which are determined at the international level, and this is a breach of those rules.”
The Trump administration has imposed the tariffs under section 232 of the 1962 Trade Expansion Act on “national security” grounds. Scholz denounced the claim as “spurious.”
“We’ll always be ready to talk about reaching common agreement on trade policy, but that’s only possible if unilaterally implemented tariffs are lifted,” he said.
Canadian Finance Minister Bill Morneau, the chairman of the meeting, said the issue of trade conflicts had moved to front and Centre. “I don’t want to kid you, we will need to talk about this first and foremost,” he said. “We think it’s absurd that Canada is considered in any way a security risk, so that will be clearly stated by me.”
The invocation of “national security” by the Trump administration is not because it regards Canada or the EU as a threat, but because it is seeking to exploit a loophole in the rules of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) that permits such tariff impositions. But the WTO rule is meant to cover only situations where countries are actually at war.
Consequently, there is concern that the Trump move could prompt other countries to invoke “national security” grounds for the imposition of tariffs, leading to the disintegration of the global trading order.
Anthony Gardner, the US ambassador to the EU from 2014 to 2107, said Trump’s actions were “very foolish” and a “serious attack” on the world’s trading rules. “Guns should be pointed at enemies, not at allies,” he declared. He added that there was now little to prevent China or any other country from blocking imports on anything, unrelated to true concerns about national security.
The European Union is pushing ahead with counter-measures against the US and is expected to announce its final list of products to be targeted and the level of the tariffs later this month. At the same time, it has opened a case in the WTO against the US measures.
EU Trade Commissioner Cecilia Malmström rejected the claim that the tariffs were needed for national security, denouncing them as “pure protectionism.”
“We are not in a trade war, but we are in a very difficult situation caused by the United States,” she said. “I would not use the term ‘trade war’ because it has a psychological effect. The US is playing a dangerous game here.”
At the same time, Malmström announced that the EU was taking China to the WTO for “forcing” European companies seeking to do business in China to disclose technological secrets—the same issue raised by the US.
Malmström said the EU’s actions, against both the US and China, indicated that it was not choosing sides and that “we stand for the multilateral system, for rule-based global trade.” She added, “If players in the world don’t stick to the rule book, the system might collapse.”
She maintained the EU stance that there will be no negotiations with the US while the tariffs remain in place and the EU has “closed the door” on talks. “We offered dialogue and future negotiations under the condition that they took away this threat,” she said. “They didn’t and here we are. When they say America first, we say Europe united.”
Malmström’s emphasis on European unity and for no negotiations while tariffs remain in place reflects the hard line being pushed by France. French President Emmanuel Macron has denounced the tariff measure as “illegal.”
Speaking to reporters, he said the US decision was a mistake because it was “creating economic nationalism … and nationalism is war. That’s exactly what happened in the ’30s.”
However, German trade groups, fearing that further tariff measures by the US targeting the auto industry are in the pipeline, are calling for restraint on the part of the EU. Volkswagen said it would welcome a resumption of talks on a bilateral agreement with the US, without any mention of the prior removal of tariffs.
Christian Vietmeyer, the head of the Steel and Metal Processors’ Association, called for restraint. “Reactions of the EU that lead to an escalation of the situation and more trade barriers would cause more damage. The EU should stay calm.”
The predominant reaction in US political, business and media circles to the tariffs is not opposition to trade war measures per se, but rather that the Trump administration is alienating its allies when it should be trying to win their support for action against China.
The Republican chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, Kevin Brady, said the tariffs were “hitting the wrong target” and that when it came to unfair trade in aluminium and steel, Mexico, Canada and Europe were not the problem, “China is.”
Criticism of Trump’s tariffs has been considerably more vocal and pointed from the Republican congressional camp than the Democratic. Most of the Democratic leadership has avoided comment, while the most rabid trade war hawks, such as Ohio Senator Sherrod Brown, have backed Trump.
An editorial in the Wall Street Journal said that rather than Trump being a “genius deal-maker” his actions revealed he was “merely an old-fashioned protectionist.” The editorial said that with his tax cuts and deregulation—the handing out of billions of dollars to the corporations and ultra-wealthy and the easing of restrictions on the operations of the banks—Trump had established a solid economic record, but his escalating trade war was putting this at risk. While he has aspired to be Ronald Reagan, his “tariff follies” echo Herbert Hoover, the newspaper declared.
In an editorial titled “America Declares War on its Friends,” the New York Times said the tariff measures would do nothing to reduce steel and aluminium capacity in China, and the president was “effectively isolating the United States from its closest allies—the very countries that it needs to work with to put pressure on China to change its course.”

Roger Waters Defends Palestinian Movement at Berlin Concert

 

Published 3 June 2018 by TeleSurTV

Link Here:

“All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights.”

Roger Waters, singer, pro-Palestinian activist and former member of the legendary rock band Pink Floyd, asked German authorities not to criminalize the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement, after broadcasters refused to collaborate with him or promote his concerts in Germany over his support for the peaceful anti-Israel boycott.

Just before the encore section of the concert he gave in Berlin Friday night, Waters read a long speech criticizing Israel’s policies towards Palestinians and their territories.

“Anti-Semitism is obscene,” said Waters before urging the commissioner for the fight against anti-Semitism Felix Klein to stop criminalizing the BDS movement. He then quoted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights’s “all human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights.”

Waters joined the movement in2011 but he had supported it for years before, when Palestinian advocates of the boycott convinced him to visit the separation wall to reconsider his planned 2006 concert in Tel Aviv.

“In 1980, a song I wrote, Another Brick in the Wall Part 2, was banned by the government of South Africa because it was being used by black South African children to advocate their right to equal education,” wrote Waters in an opinion piece published by The Guardian in 2011, in which he embraced the BDS movement.

“Twenty-five years later, in 2005, Palestinian children participating in a West Bank festival used the song to protest against Israel’s wall around the West Bank. They sang: ‘We don’t need no occupation! We don’t need no racist wall!’,” he continued.

Now, Waters is one of the most high-profile members of the movement and his activism has proven to be controversial.

Waters’ performances are often full of political significance, as he and his team prepare speeches and visuals related to the country they are visiting and its political situation, and his support for the BDS movement in Germany, where anti-Semitism accusations still play a strong role in public opinion, cost him the support of at least five public broadcasters and Klein’s criticism.
In 2017, five state television and radio affiliates of the ARD, the German consortium of public broadcasters, refused to broadcast Waters’ concerts scheduled in Berlin and Cologne this 2018 summer “in reaction to anti-Semitism accusations against him,” according to the Berlin and Brandenburg public radio (RBB).

During Berlin’s concerts, the Berliner Zeitung reported that members of the BDS movement were handing flyers and that fans inside the venue were carrying Palestinian flags.

Klein is the first commissioner for anti-Semitism, a position created this year to combat the increasing violent threats towards the Jewish community in Germany.

While it is a necessary agency, given the rising xenophobia that’s taking over Europe, but Klein’s stance is following the narrative that sees any opposition to Israel’s occupation policies as anti-Semitism, which has been rejected by Palestinian and Jewish activists who oppose Israeli policies and argue that to be against the Israeli government is not to be against the Jewish people as a whole.
“I consider BDS to be an anti-Semitic movement whose activities I strongly condemn,” said Klein speaking with the Judische Allgemeine newspaper, arguing that “with its calls for boycott against Israel, it acts using Nazi argumentation that is simply unbearable.”

As part of his “Us + Them” tour, based on Pink Floyd’s repertoire, Waters has scheduled concerts in Berlin, Cologne, Mannheim and Munich.

 

 

 

Pompeo, Iran Sanctions Are A Turning Point by Russell Meyers.

 

Contributor Op Ed originally published in Medium.com

Russell Meyers~ 
Not going to claim to be a professional journalist. I am a nurse and a long time social activist on many subjects. I focus on issues. Issues unite, names divide

May 21
Pompeo, Iran Sanctions Are A Turning Point


Today, Mike Pompeo, the US Secretary of State (sorry if I vomit in my mouth a little as I type those words) issued a statement of US policy toward Iran. That statement included a list of 12 demands for Iran or face the toughest US sanctions so far.
First, let’s examine the demands and a few observations about the demands.
1- Declare to the IAEA a full account of prior military dimensions of it’s nuclear program and permanently, verifiably abandon such work in perpetuity.
Iran has not made any agreement nor has there been any prior demand to account for all dimensions of it’s program. Mostly this was done under the JCPOA. So was verification that they had abandoned their nuclear weapons program. That WAS confirmed by the IAEA inspectors.
2- Stop enrichment of plutonium preprocessing, including closing it’s heavy water reactor.
What this means is abandoning their nuclear power system. Something they have every right to keep in place.
3- Provide the IAEA unqualified access to all sites throughout the entire country.
This had already been achieved through the JCPOA.
4- End proliferation of ballistic missiles and halt further launching or development of nuclear-capable missile systems.
Nuclear CAPABLE? You know what makes a missile nuclear CAPABLE? The ability to carry a nuclear warhead. Which basically describes every damn missile in existence!!!
Give up their ballistic missile systems? Will Israel be required to do the same? No, not at all. So that is telling Iran to surrender their ability to defend themselves against a country that has at some point attacked and/or invaded EVERY country near them at some point in my lifetime and is becoming more aggressive than ever right now.
5- Release all US citizens and US allies.
What were Americans doing in Iran? ALLIES? That would include Israeli and Saudi spies caught inside Iran. Want them released? Then negotiate and bring something to the table besides threats.
6- End support to Middle Eastern “terrorist” groups, including Hamas and Hezbollah.
Pardon me but both Hamas and Hezbollah are political parties with militant components. Both groups were formed as a RESPONSE to threats and actual attempts at invasion and attack by Israel in their respective countries. Neither was formed as an aggressive organization. Can they be aggressive? Of course they can but that is not typically their role, no matter what MSM likes to claim.
7- Respect the sovereignty of the Iraqi government and allow for the disarming, demobilization and reintegration of the Shia militias.
This is TOO RICH!!! The US government calling for respecting the sovereignty of another country’s government?!!! Especially Iraq?!!! Whom WE invaded illegally and removed their government to install a puppet regime?!!
Disarming and demobilization of the Shias? Basically calling for surrender to US proxy forces.
8- End support for Houthi rebels in Yemen and work towards a peaceful political settlement in Yemen.
Try not to choke on this one. Has he paid any attention? Saudi Arabia is committing genocide in Yemen and he expects any resistance to lay down their arms in the belief that the Saudis who have slaughtered civilian women and children will cease hostilities? No, he does not believe that would happen. He knows it would not. That would be suicide for them.
9- Withdraw all forces under Iran’s command from the entirety of Syria.
Iran’s forces are there legally and by agreement with the democratically elected Syrian government. The US has no right to be there. Israel has no right to be there. Turkey has no right to be there. All are invaders under international law. The same is true for the UK, Dutch and French forces.
10- End support for terrorist groups in Afghanistan “and the region”and stop harboring senior Al Qaeda leaders.
The same Al Qaeda that we were arming directly and openly? The same ones whose weapons consist of at least 70% US weapons?
11- End the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Quds force support for terrorists and militant partners around the world.
Yeah, that is basically conspiracy theory and nothing more.
12- End threatening behavior against Iran’s neighbors, many of whom are US allies (sic). Including threats to destroy Israel and firing missiles at Saudi and UAE and threats to international shipping and cyberattacks throughout the world.
Okay, so now it’s IRAN conducting cyberattacks around the world? I thought that was Russia’s job!! Damn, Russia, you had ONE JOB and you left it to Iran?!!! Lazy bastards!! (sic)
The only missiles fired against Saudi or UAE countries has been in league with and defense of countries whom THEY ATTACKED!! Threats to shipping? Pardon me but wasn’t it a US ship that fired on an Iranian vessel last year when the Iranian ship had a right to be there? The right for the US ship to be in that area is highly debatable.
Basically this entire list sounds like it was dictated by Netanyahu and merely read off by Pompeo. Because most of this list is a wish list for Israel and Saudi Arabia to be able to invade every country in the ME with no resistance at all.
Note that Iran has not invaded another country in over 200 years. Their threats against Israel for decades have been defensive. Promises that if Israel keeps threatening and/or attacking Iran or Iran’s allies, that Iran will respond. Israel on the other hand in the last 50 years has attacked or invaded Palestine, Syria, Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Cyprus and even bombed a US ship at one point. I’m pretty sure I’m leaving some victims of Israel out of this list. In some cases they have attacked the same victims multiple times.
Who gave the US the right to dictate such terms? There was no discussion about any of this in the UN. The UNSC had no input in this. Nor did the UN General Assembly. None of this was included in the JCPOA, which AMERICA abandoned with no evidence or justification. Iran and all the other signatories of the JCPOA are still engaged in the agreement. The US has NOT offered any evidence to remotely prove that Iran has violated that agreement. There are claims and vague references but basically the entire affair is a weakened semblance to WMD’s in Iraq.
All this talk of respecting the sovereignty of other countries. In what way is the US respecting sovereignty of other countries? Sanctions are not respect. Giving orders to other countries is not respect. Military threats are not respect. Bombing is not respect. Invasion is not respect. Overturning elected governments is not respect. The US does not respect the sovereignty of ANY country.
The US likes to claim itself to be the police force of the world. I have to concur but ONLY when you make a direct comparison to the behavior of American police. Militarized, weaponized, drunk on steroids and abuse of power. Willing to shoot innocent unarmed civilians and claim it was because they were afraid.
We have to face the fact that our country is the rogue cop robbing, beating, killing and planting evidence. Sooner or later, the victims and families will band together. I am surprised that so far that has not happening but it is slowly. In the Middle East, I expect to see Iran, Syria, Turkey, Qatar, Lebanon, Hamas, Hezbollah and Houthis band together to fight against Israel and the US. It’s likely to happen soon, while their countries are in ruins. Because now is when they have nothing left to lose. They are battle hardened, their pain endurance and emotional determination is high. They still grieve for their losses and that grief and anger is a powerful weapon. They have already learned they can join forces against common enemies. They may have differences but will soon realize “The enemy of my enemy is my friend.” They know they can reach compromise with one another. They know that they will never have compromise with their enemies because the US and Israel will never allow it. Their enemies demand complete surrender. The actions in recent days of the US and Israel have illustrated that fact. Neither can be trusted to ever even attempt peace. Unarmed Palestinian protesters shot down while the US withdraws from the JCPOA and makes threats against Iran.
Some people will try and let this speech by Pompeo fade in the distance. Ignore the correlation to what Israel has done. The people in the Middle East have long memories and have already drawn the correlations. This was a turning point. It may not show itself immediately but this was a full pivot which cannot be reversed.

Press Monkey News Update. Venezuelans head to polls. Israel: Boycott, Divestment and Sanction movement grows.

Venezuelan voters dance and celebrate during the presidential election in Caracas, Venezuela, May 20, 2018. | Photo: Reuters

Venezuelans head to the polls today amid protests speculation and reported prayers from the Pope.

Among those voting.  Incumbent President and frontrunner candidate Nicolas Maduro  who is seeking re election, was seen voting (presumably for himself)  in Caracas. Nationwide voting for Venezuelans in in progress through the day until 6pm. read more about this in this report by telesurtv.

ALSO:

Growing tensions amid rising Palestinian death toll at “Right of Return” protests helps boost already growing Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions Movement, As popular Portuguese Director Tiago Rodrigues

joins movement and cancels presentation of show at Israel Festival in June . more on this here.

The Freedom Charter: An important document and guide for democracy.

By Dustin Micheli

While listening to a report on Black Agenda Report   radio , about the recently passed South African anti-apartheid activist and politician, and the ex-wife of Nelson Mandela, Winnie Mandela.

I was struck by a few things highlighted in this report, the least of which was not how important and regarded  Winnie Mandela was for South Africa politics , how under reported that has been in western mainstream media and academic circles outside of colleges.

Much of the  radio report revolves around international reaction to  a newly acclaimed film by French director Pascale Lamche  “Winnie”   the Sundance award winning documentary/ film that highlights the importance of Winnie Madikizela-Mandela. A powerful and important figure to the movements to end oppression and apartheid.

Also highlighted in the report was the importance of and Miss Mandela’s association to and fight for integrity outlined in the “Freedom Charter”  , which was the statement of core principles of the South African Congress Alliance, also to which consisted of the African National Congress and the main reason I wrote this article.

Admittedly I had scarcely heard of the “Freedom Charter” until recently and had no real clue how important and well articulated a document this really was. The comparisons to the United States Constitution ,  The United Nations Charter or Even Magna Carta  easily came to mind.  As I continued to read and understood the potential implications of a governance that operated under the guidance such populace  and nationally or internationally  oriented imperative prescribed by that mandate.

The “Freedom Charter”   though for obvious reasons is a South African oriented and specific document. Its implications and contents however, if tweaked can be easily fit into our even replace many of the articles that have ceased to grow to meet the needs of the people in the United States and many other nations.

It reminds me of the basic preamble of the U.S. Constitution to which we have long ago abandoned in favor of overt militarism abroad. As the United States government officially was against the anti apartheid movement and for the imperialist and racist apartheid state before the reformation of the South African national congress. For our own imperative of ” establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity”

In re publishing the Freedom Charter in my publication, I hope to give Americans and Westerners a glimpse into an unseen world of politics that mainstream media has failed to report on in any kind of adequate way.  Please read and consider the contents of this important and well crafted document and ask yourselves how we might look to this document for extra guidance  and possible ways to implement its humanitarian mandates for governance.

 

The Freedom Charter
Adopted at the Congress of the People, Kliptown, on 26 June 1955

We, the People of South Africa, declare for all our country and the world to know:
that South Africa belongs to all who live in it, black and white, and that no government can justly claim authority unless it is based on the will of all the people;
that our people have been robbed of their birthright to land, liberty and peace by a form of government founded on injustice and inequality;
that our country will never be prosperous or free until all our people live in brotherhood, enjoying equal rights and opportunities;
that only a democratic state, based on the will of all the people, can secure to all their birthright without distinction of colour, race, sex or belief;
And therefore, we, the people of South Africa, black and white together equals, countrymen and brothers adopt this Freedom Charter;
And we pledge ourselves to strive together, sparing neither strength nor courage, until the democratic changes here set out have been won.
The People Shall Govern!
Every man and woman shall have the right to vote for and to stand as a candidate for all bodies which make laws;
All people shall be entitled to take part in the administration of the country;
The rights of the people shall be the same, regardless of race, colour or sex;
All bodies of minority rule, advisory boards, councils and authorities shall be replaced by democratic organs of self-government .
All National Groups Shall have Equal Rights!
There shall be equal status in the bodies of state, in the courts and in the schools for all national groups and races;
All people shall have equal right to use their own languages, and to develop their own folk culture and customs;
All national groups shall be protected by law against insults to their race and national pride;
The preaching and practice of national, race or colour discrimination and contempt shall be a punishable crime;
All apartheid laws and practices shall be set aside.
The People Shall Share in the Country’s Wealth!
The national wealth of our country, the heritage of South Africans, shall be restored to the people;
The mineral wealth beneath the soil, the Banks and monopoly industry shall be transferred to the ownership of the people as a whole;
All other industry and trade shall be controlled to assist the wellbeing of the people;
All people shall have equal rights to trade where they choose, to manufacture and to enter all trades, crafts and professions.
The Land Shall be Shared Among Those Who Work It!
Restrictions of land ownership on a racial basis shall be ended, and all the land re-divided amongst those who work it to banish famine and land hunger;
The state shall help the peasants with implements, seed, tractors and dams to save the soil and assist the tillers;
Freedom of movement shall be guaranteed to all who work on the land;
All shall have the right to occupy land wherever they choose;
People shall not be robbed of their cattle, and forced labour and farm prisons shall be abolished.
All Shall be Equal Before the Law!
No-one shall be imprisoned, deported or restricted without a fair trial; No-one shall be condemned by the order of any Government official;
The courts shall be representative of all the people;
Imprisonment shall be only for serious crimes against the people, and shall aim at reeducation, not vengeance;
The police force and army shall be open to all on an equal basis and shall be the helpers and protectors of the people;
All laws which discriminate on grounds of race, colour or belief shall be repealed.
All Shall Enjoy Equal Human Rights!
The law shall guarantee to all their right to speak, to organise, to meet together, to publish, to preach, to worship and to educate their children;
The privacy of the house from police raids shall be protected by law;
All shall be free to travel without restriction from countryside to town, from province to province, and from South Africa abroad;
Pass Laws, permits and all other laws restricting these freedoms shall be abolished.
There Shall be Work and Security!
All who work shall be free to form trade unions, to elect their officers and to make wage agreements with their employers;
The state shall recognise the right and duty of all to work, and to draw full unemployment benefits;
Men and women of all races shall receive equal pay for equal work;
There shall be a forty-hour working week, a national minimum wage, paid annual leave, and sick leave for all workers, and maternity leave on full pay for all working mothers;
Miners, domestic workers, farm workers and civil servants shall have the same rights as all others who work;
Child labour, compound labour, the tot system and contract labour shall be abolished.
The Doors of Learning and Culture Shall be Opened!
The government shall discover, develop and encourage national talent for the enhancement of our cultural life;
All the cultural treasures of mankind shall be open to all, by free exchange of books, ideas and contact with other lands;
The aim of education shall be to teach the youth to love their people and their culture, to honour human brotherhood, liberty and peace;
Education shall be free, compulsory, universal and equal for all children; Higher education and technical training shall be opened to all by means of state allowances and scholarships awarded on the basis of merit;
Adult illiteracy shall be ended by a mass state education plan;
Teachers shall have all the rights of other citizens;
The colour bar in cultural life, in sport and in education shall be abolished.
There Shall be Houses, Security and Comfort!
All people shall have the right to live where they choose, be decently housed, and to bring up their families in comfort and security;
Unused housing space to be made available to the people;
Rent and prices shall be lowered, food plentiful and no-one shall go hungry;
A preventive health scheme shall be run by the state;
Free medical care and hospitalisation shall be provided for all, with special care for mothers and young children;
Slums shall be demolished, and new suburbs built where all have transport, roads, lighting, playing fields, creches and social centres;
The aged, the orphans, the disabled and the sick shall be cared for by the state;
Rest, leisure and recreation shall be the right of all:
Fenced locations and ghettoes shall be abolished, and laws which break up families shall be repealed.
There Shall be Peace and Friendship!
South Africa shall be a fully independent state which respects the rights and sovereignty of all nations;
South Africa shall strive to maintain world peace and the settlement of all international disputes by negotiation – not war;
Peace and friendship amongst all our people shall be secured by upholding the equal rights, opportunities and status of all;
The people of the protectorates Basutoland, Bechuanaland and Swaziland shall be free to decide for themselves their own future;
The right of all peoples of Africa to independence and self-government shall be recognized, and shall be the basis of close co-operation.
Let all people who love their people and their country now say, as we say here:
THESE FREEDOMS WE WILL FIGHT FOR, SIDE BY SIDE, THROUGHOUT OUR LIVES, UNTIL WE HAVE WON OUR LIBERTY

 

 

 

News Briefs 5-14-2018

Venezuelans head to the polls to elect the new president for the 2019-2025 term. The vote takes places amid unprecedented pressure against the South American nation, including sanctions from the U.S. and E.U. which look to exacerbate the economic downturn faced by the OPEC member state since the steep drop in oil prices in 2014. in this linked report by telesur English.

More dead and injured during ” Right of Return”  Protest in Gaza

Clashes have also reportedly broken out between protesters and the Israeli Defense Forces in Bethlehem.

Fifty-five Palestinian protesters, including six children under 18, have been killed by Israeli fire during demonstrations on the day of the US embassy’s inauguration in Jerusalem, the Palestinian health ministry said Monday. Follow up on this expanded report by RT 

Court Finds Suporvisor violated Ballot preservation laws. A Message from Tim Canova.

FROM the TIM CANOVA CAMPAIGN:
Dear Brothers and Sisters,
As reported this morning in Politico, we just won our public records lawsuit against Broward County Supervisor of Elections Brenda Snipes! The Court found that Supervisor Snipes violated state and federal laws by destroying all of the original paper ballots cast in our 2016 primary against Debbie Wasserman Schultz. Most egregiously, the Supervisor ordered the destruction of ballots after we sued to inspect and copy the ballots!
This is a very big deal for election integrity in our country. As the court makes clear, every person has the “fundamental right” to inspect and copy the original paper ballots in an election – and this right is a “cornerstone of our political culture.”
We sought to verify the vote because of concerns of elections experts that the final vote count may have been incorrect. The destruction of the ballots by Broward’s top elections officials smacks of a cover-up and we will continue to press for answers.
This ballot destruction scandal is far from over and we need your help now more than ever. The court must still assess damages and the Secretary of State and Governor are investigating the Supervisor’s illegal conduct. I am therefore asking you to please step up again and donate whatever you can to our campaign so we will have the resources to continue pressing our case to state and federal officials.
We are fighting for election justice and integrity. That’s the least we owe to all of you who have contributed to our campaign against Wasserman Schultz and to Bernie Sanders’ 2016 presidential campaign. That’s why we have fought for more than a year and a half on this ballot inspection case. And it’s why we have called for criminal investigations of the New York City Board of Elections for purging more than 200,000 citizens from its voting rolls in the days prior to its 2016 Democratic Presidential primary.
I would also like to thank the thousands of people in my district and around the country who have supported our efforts to inspect the ballots and prosecute this lawsuit. I am grateful for your many small donations and for your many words of encouragement that lifted our spirits and helped pull us through this challenging process.
We will have more to report on this case in the coming days and weeks, but for now, I wanted to share the encouraging news and let you know that WE WON!

In solidarity,

Tim Canova