May 28, 2005

‘Architects of torture policy must be held accountable’

New reports of torture of detainees show the U.S. as a global enforcer gone wild.

PITTSBURGH, Penn. — Americans are talking, marching, storming congressional offices, petitioning, conducting town hall meetings and writing letters to save Social Security. Beneath the radar of headline news, the people have lit up the “third rail” of U.S. politics, Social Security, and Republicans and Democrats are both feeling the charge.

PORTLAND, Ore. — The morning after I flew here, I telephoned Hank Curl. “He’s not home yet,” said his housemate. “He left at 4:30 this morning to hand out the paper to the longshoremen.”

You never can tell what issue will draw debate until you get into a public dialogue. Since its launch a little over a month ago, the online Communist Party USA preconvention discussion web site has grown to over 100 participants with 150 posts.

PORTLAND, Ore. — Portland, City of Roses, won a proud distinction last month. It is the first municipality in the nation to pull out of the Justice Department’s Joint Terrorism Task Force (JTTF), a clear rejection of the Bush administration’s politics of fear.

NEW YORK CITY — On May 19, the Harlem community said a big “happy 80th birthday” to its most famous son, Malcolm X/El-Hajj Malik El-Shabazz, by dedicating the historic Audubon Ballroom, where Malcolm X gave his last speech as a memorial to him and his work.

In the teeth of an incredibly vicious anti-immigrant campaign by the ultra-right, a bipartisan group in Congress has submitted legislation to restructure the system, dealing simultaneously with the needs of undocumented workers and concerns about security.

LOS ANGELES — Virtually every news outlet in the nation, and in much of the world, is hailing as historic the victory of Antonio Villaraigosa as mayor of Los Angeles.

LOS ANGELES – California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger released a revision to his budget proposal on May 13, which seeks to close an $8.6 billion budget gap by slashing social services. Members of the Legislative Black Caucus, chaired by Sen. Kevin Murray, analyzed the May revisions at a public meeting here, May 20. Community leaders testified about the budget’s impact on their services.

The four white men who beat an African American unconscious and left him for dead near Linden, Texas, received incredibly light sentences from an all-white jury on May 13.