Thousands of angry citizens, who fear a "government take over" of the world's resources by powerful governments and the corporations they harbor, took to the streets of Pittsburgh PA.. on Sept 23rd and 24th to protest and disrupt the G20 summit. And while these thousands of protester apparently did not merit even five minutes, of the 24/7 media coverage awarded the few dozens who protested and disrupted our recent congressional town hall meetings, Law enforcement may just end up making some news for having arrested an Elliot Madison for TWITTERING (it's like sending out a mass email, or text message) about the locations of the riot squads and where other police were assembling. Information, by the way, which he found posted on the internet.
You may have heard or read that we have a constitutional right to assemble, and to petition our government, but keep in mind that in most in most jurisdictions, those assemblies must be permitted (unlike guns, at a tea party protest in Arizona or New Hampshire.), and no such permits were going to be issued anywhere near where the the governments met, or from any location where the citizens could actually be heard by these governments' representatives. So Pittsburgh locked down. They brought in and deputized 1000 additional personal as "police", just for the event and they even used an experimental pain complicate technique, called a "sound" cannon to disperse crowds, as well as firing rubber bullets and tear gas at them. Many of these protesters (and a few innocent by standers) were deemed to be committing the crime of protesting with out a permit and were subject to mass arrests, very much like what happen in New York City during the National Republican Convention in 2004. Most were detained until the end of the summit and released with out charges, so short of hiring a lawyer and bringing civil charges against the police, the violation of their civil rights will never be determined. Elliot Madison however, will be getting his day in court.
-----
http://bullets?storyId=113513780
MELISSA BLOCK, host:
From NPR News, this is ALL THINGS CONSIDERED. I'm Melissa Block.
ROBERT SIEGEL, host:
And I'm Robert Siegel.
We've reported here on the use of texting, blogging and tweeting by all sorts of protest movements abroad. But the most recent case, and the arrest of someone tweeting live about protests, took place in the not-so-exotic confines of Pittsburgh.
A self-described anarchist, who was tweeting at the G-20 summit, was arrested. Elliot Madison was accused of directing others to avoid arrest. Madison's home in New York City was searched. He was charged with hindering apprehension or prosecution, criminal use of a communication facility and possession of instruments of crime.
We asked law professor and former prosecutor Paul Butler about this today. We wondered, is telling protesters that there's a cop up ahead arresting protesters any different from blinking your headlights on the highway to signal there's a cop up ahead with a radar gun?
Professor PAUL BUTLER (Law, George Washington University): There's no universal agreement about whether when you do that you're committing a crime. So, in a few jurisdictions, people have actually been charged with traffic offenses for warning about police. So, in a sense, this is a glorified version of that.
SIEGEL: And that would include busting people for communicating logistics to other demonstrators about where to go?
Prof. BUTLER: Well, that's the very difficult decision the judge will have to make. So these cases present difficult First Amendment issues. It's perfectly legal to protest, but it's not legal to help the bad guy run away. So, it's a thin line, not a thick line, between those two.
SIEGEL: Although the bad guy in this case - we understand the bad guy when he is purveying child pornography or selling drugs - in this case, the bad guy would be the protester who might be arrested by a cop if he goes down First Street instead of running down Second Street.
Prof. BUTLER: And it's tough because the police have to make these difficult, on the spot determinations about where the protesters can go. This information may not be transmitted to the protesters. And so, often, they're arrested for conduct that they didn't even know was illegal. It wasn't illegal five minutes ago. And so, in a sense, all of these tweets and Twitterers are just designed to get the message out about what's legal now.
SIEGEL: The New York Times has some of the messages that were exchanged during the protest against the G-20, some of the tweets. SWAT teams rolling down 5th Avenue - that would be one. Another one was: Report received that police are nabbing anyone that looks like a protester. Black block: Stay alert, watch your friends.
Prof. BUTLER: Yeah.
SIEGEL: What does it sound like to you?
Prof. BUTLER: Well, you know, some of it sounds like pure journalism, just reporting what's going on on the scene, not unlike what I heard when I watch some protest on the local news.
You know, the part about watch out for your friend, that's a little bit more ambiguous. But one concern is that sometimes the police have arrested innocent people. So, if I were the defense attorney, I'd say they're just trying to give people information so that they can conform their conduct to the law.
SIEGEL: Now, but let's say if I were a journalist Tweeting about protests, and I sent out a message: SWAT teams rolling down 5th Avenue, my intent is to inform. It's not necessarily to direct people's conduct. On the other hand, when people are informed of something, they decide what to do on the basis of that information. Is there any bright line in law between when you're just giving somebody the facts of the situation or when the fact of the situation, that is, I see cops who are about to beat down your door, flush it, quick, when that information really is part of a - trying to thwart the law?
Prof. BUTLER: Yeah. Well, intent or motive is key. So if the government can prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the idea was to help the protesters evade the police and to prevent the protesters' illegal activities from being discovered, then they've broken the law. But that's a lot that the government will have to prove and, you know, it may be difficult based on the evidence.
SIEGEL: New law will be made in these cases in the coming months.
Prof. BUTLER: And the law is used to adapting to new technology, you know, for - there was a time when the telephone was new. And then there was another time when computers were new. And people used these new instruments for both legal activity and for political organizing and sometimes for illegal activity. And what law has to do is to figure out the difference.
SIEGEL: Professor Butler, thank you very much.
Prof. BUTLER: It's great to be here.
SIEGEL: Paul Butler, a former federal prosecutor, is a professor of law at the George Washington University in Washington, D.C.
---
More on G20:
http://www.cnn.com/2009/CRIME/10/06/G20.tweeters/
for photos click here
Wednesday, October 7, 2009
Tuesday, September 29, 2009
Thousands at G20 no match for dozens at Town Hall Meeting
Thousand march in Pittsburgh, with little to no news coverage, in stark contrast to the none stop coverage of a few dozen who disrupted some of the Congressional Town Hall Meetings in August.
--
http://www.truthout.org/092809R
Street Report From the G20
Monday 28 September 2009
by: Bill Quigley, t r u t h o u t | Perspective
The G20 in Pittsburgh showed us how pitifully fearful our leaders have become.
What no terrorist could do to us, our own leaders did.
Out of fear of the possibility of a terrorist attack, authorities militarize our towns, scare our people away, stop daily life and quash our constitutional rights.
For days, downtown Pittsburgh, home to the G20, was a turned into a militarized, people-free ghost town. Sirens screamed day and night.
Helicopters crisscrossed the skies. Gunboats sat in the rivers. The skies were defended by Air Force jets. Streets were barricaded by huge cement blocks and fencing. Bridges were closed with National Guard across the entrances. Public transportation was stopped downtown. Amtrak train service was suspended for days.
In many areas, there were armed police every 100 feet. Businesses closed. Schools closed. Tens of thousands were unable to work.
Four thousand police were on duty, plus 2,500 National Guard, plus Coast Guard and Air Force and dozens of other security agencies. A thousand volunteers from other police forces were sworn in to help out.
Police were dressed in battle gear, bulky, black ninja-turtle outfits - helmets with clear visors, strapped on body armor, shin guards, big boots, batons and long guns.
In addition to helicopters, the police had hundreds of cars and motorcycles, armored vehicles, monster trucks, small electric go-karts. There were even passenger vans screaming through town so stuffed with heavily armed ninja turtles that the side and rear doors remained open.
No terrorists showed up at the G20.
Since no terrorists showed up, those in charge of the heavily armed security forces chose to deploy their forces around those who were protesting.
Not everyone is delighted that 20 countries control 80 percent of the world's resources. Several thousand of them chose to express their displeasure by protesting.
Unfortunately, the officials in charge thought that it was more important to create a militarized people-free zone around the G20 people than to allow freedom of speech, freedom of assembly or the freedom to protest.
It took a lawsuit by the Center for Constitutional Rights and the ACLU to get any major protest permitted anywhere near downtown Pittsburgh. Even then, the police "forgot" what was permitted and turned people away from areas of town. Hundreds of police also harassed a bus full of people who were giving away free food - repeatedly detaining the bus and searching it and its passengers without warrants.
Then, a group of young people decided that they did not need a permit to express their human and constitutional rights to freedom. They announced they were going to hold their own gathering at a city park and go down the deserted city streets to protest the G20. Maybe 200 of these young people were self-described anarchists, dressed in black, many with bandannas across their faces. The police warned everyone these people were very scary. My cab driver said the anarchist spokesperson looked like Harry Potter in a black hoodie. The anarchists were joined in the park by hundreds of other activists of all ages, ultimately one thousand strong, all insisting on exercising their right to protest.
This drove the authorities crazy.
Battle dressed ninja turtles showed up at the park and formed a line across one entrance. Helicopters buzzed overhead. Armored vehicles gathered.
The crowd surged out of the park and up a side street yelling, chanting, drumming and holding signs. As they exited the park, everyone passed an ice cream truck that was playing "It's a small world after all." Indeed.
Any remaining doubts about the militarization of the police were dispelled shortly after the crowd left the park. A few blocks away, the police unveiled their latest high tech anti-protester toy. It was mounted on the back of a huge black truck. The Pittsburgh-Gazette described it as Long Range Acoustic Device designed to break up crowds with piercing noise. Similar devices have been used in Fallujah, Mosul and Basra, Iraq. The police backed the truck up, told people not to go any further down the street and then blasted them with piercing noise.
The crowd then moved to other streets. Now, they were being tracked by helicopters. The police repeatedly tried to block them from regrouping, ultimately firing tear gas into the crowd, injuring hundreds, including people in the residential neighborhood where the police decided to confront the marchers. I was treated to some of the tear gas myself and I found the Pittsburgh brand to be spiced with a hint of kielbasa. Fortunately, I was handed some paper towels soaked in apple cider vinegar, which helped fight the tears and cough a bit. Who would have thought?
After the large group broke and ran from the tear gas, smaller groups went into commercial neighborhoods and broke glass at a bank and a couple of other businesses. The police chased and the glass breakers ran. And the police chased and the people ran. For a few hours.
By day, the police were menacing, but at night they lost their cool. Around a park by the University of Pittsburgh, the ninja turtles pushed and shoved and beat and arrested not just protesters, but people passing by. One young woman reported she and her friend had watched "Grey's Anatomy" and were on their way back to their dorm when they were cornered by police. One was bruised by a police baton and her friend was arrested. Police shot tear gas, pepper spray, smoke canisters and rubber bullets. They pushed with big plastic shields and struck with batons.
The biggest march was Friday. Thousands of people from Pittsburgh and other places protested the G20. Since the court had ruled on this march, the police did not confront the marchers. Ninja-turtled police showed up in formation sometimes and the helicopters hovered, but no confrontations occurred.
Again, Friday night, riot-clad police fought with students outside of the University of Pittsburgh. To what end was just as unclear as the night before.
Ultimately about 200 were arrested, mostly in clashes with the police around the University.
The G20 leaders left by helicopter and limousine.
Pittsburgh now belongs again to the people of Pittsburgh. The cement barricades were removed; the fences were taken down; the bridges and roads were opened. The gunboats packed up and left. The police packed away their ninja-turtle outfits and tear gas and rubber bullets. They don't look like military commandos anymore. No more gunboats on the river. No more sirens all the time. No more armored vehicles and ear-splitting machines used in Iraq. On Monday, the businesses will open and kids will have to go back to school. Civil society has returned.
It is now probably even safe to exercise constitutional rights in Pittsburgh once again.
The USA really showed those terrorists didn't we?
--
http://www.truthout.org/092909D?n
Police Use Painful New Weapon on G20 Protesters
Monday 28 September 2009
by: Allison Kilkenny | AlterNet
Police used "sound cannons" to break up G-20 protest groups demonstrating in Pittsburgh.
This technology has been deployed in Iraq as an "anti-insurgent weapon" - it could easily be used as a torture tool.
Pittsburgh police demonstrated the latest in crowd control techniques on protesters when they used "sound cannons" to blast the ears of citizens near the G-20 meeting of world economic leaders. City officials said this was the first time such sound blasters, also known as "sound weapons," were used publicly.
Lavonnie Bickerstaff of the Pittsburgh Bureau of Police uses benign language like "sound amplifiers," and "long-range acoustic device" to explain the new weapons in an attempt to sanitize what is essentially a painful weapon that leaves no visible marks on its victims. The mob utilized a similar tactic on snitches when they would beat everywhere except the face. If victims have no outward bruises to show, the world is less likely to believe their stories of assault and harassment.
Unlike aerosol hand-grenades, pepper spray, and rubber bullets (all traditional methods of protest suppression also used at the G-20 protests,) the damage from sound cannons is entirely internal, and can only be preserved on video, but even then, the deafening noise cannot be fully appreciated unless one hears it in person.
(Footage of the sound cannons in action can be seen/heard below. It's clear from these videos that the extremely loud, high-pitched noise causes pain.)
The "long range acoustic device (LRAD)" is designed for long-range communication and acts as an "unmistakable warning," according to the American Technology Corporation (ATC,) which develops the instruments. "The LRAD basically is the ability to communicate clearly from 300 meters to 3 kilometers" (nearly 2 miles), said Robert Putnam of American Technology's media and investor relations during an interview with MSNBC. "It's a focused output. What distinguishes it from other communications tools out there is its ability to be heard clearly and intelligibly at a distance, unlike bullhorns."
Except, police aren't trying to send a distress call to allies 2 miles away. They're literally blasting this extreme decibel of noise directly into the ears of protesters (or any unwitting citizens) standing mere feet from the cannons. Depending on the mode of LRAD, it can blast a maximum sound of 145 to 151 decibels - equal to a gunshot - within a 3-foot (one meter) range, according to ATC. The National Institutes of Health (NIH) reports that permanent hearing loss can result from sounds at about 110 to 120 decibels in short bursts or even just 75 decibels if exposure lasts for long periods.
But there is a volume knob, Putnam notes, so its output can be less than max, purportedly to give us comfort in the knowledge that deafening citizens is left to the discretion of power-hungry police. On the decibel scale, an increase of 10 (say, from 70 to 80) means that a sound is 10 times more intense. Normal traffic noise can reach 85 decibels, reports MSNBC, but these sound cannons cannot be compared to standing beside a busy New York City road.
The BBC reported in 2005 that the "shrill sound of an LRAD at its loudest sounds something like a domestic smoke alarm, ATC says, but at 150 decibels, it is the aural equivalent to standing 30m away from a roaring jet engine and can cause major hearing damage if misused."
This technology has been deployed in Iraq as an "anti-insurgent weapon," and the sonic weaponry is also being used on protesters in Honduras. Seattle Weekly reports that this weapon could easily be used as a torture tool if one doesn't already think this is its only use.
Sonic weaponry is now being deployed domestically to put a chill on free speech. We're told this is the "humane" way to deal with protesters, but it's really just a convenient way to suppress citizens without the messy aftereffects of having to explain bullet holes to reporters. A bunch of protesters complaining about ruptured ear drums doesn't make for dramatic news.
--
http://www.truthout.org/092809R
Street Report From the G20
Monday 28 September 2009
by: Bill Quigley, t r u t h o u t | Perspective
The G20 in Pittsburgh showed us how pitifully fearful our leaders have become.
What no terrorist could do to us, our own leaders did.
Out of fear of the possibility of a terrorist attack, authorities militarize our towns, scare our people away, stop daily life and quash our constitutional rights.
For days, downtown Pittsburgh, home to the G20, was a turned into a militarized, people-free ghost town. Sirens screamed day and night.
Helicopters crisscrossed the skies. Gunboats sat in the rivers. The skies were defended by Air Force jets. Streets were barricaded by huge cement blocks and fencing. Bridges were closed with National Guard across the entrances. Public transportation was stopped downtown. Amtrak train service was suspended for days.
In many areas, there were armed police every 100 feet. Businesses closed. Schools closed. Tens of thousands were unable to work.
Four thousand police were on duty, plus 2,500 National Guard, plus Coast Guard and Air Force and dozens of other security agencies. A thousand volunteers from other police forces were sworn in to help out.
Police were dressed in battle gear, bulky, black ninja-turtle outfits - helmets with clear visors, strapped on body armor, shin guards, big boots, batons and long guns.
In addition to helicopters, the police had hundreds of cars and motorcycles, armored vehicles, monster trucks, small electric go-karts. There were even passenger vans screaming through town so stuffed with heavily armed ninja turtles that the side and rear doors remained open.
No terrorists showed up at the G20.
Since no terrorists showed up, those in charge of the heavily armed security forces chose to deploy their forces around those who were protesting.
Not everyone is delighted that 20 countries control 80 percent of the world's resources. Several thousand of them chose to express their displeasure by protesting.
Unfortunately, the officials in charge thought that it was more important to create a militarized people-free zone around the G20 people than to allow freedom of speech, freedom of assembly or the freedom to protest.
It took a lawsuit by the Center for Constitutional Rights and the ACLU to get any major protest permitted anywhere near downtown Pittsburgh. Even then, the police "forgot" what was permitted and turned people away from areas of town. Hundreds of police also harassed a bus full of people who were giving away free food - repeatedly detaining the bus and searching it and its passengers without warrants.
Then, a group of young people decided that they did not need a permit to express their human and constitutional rights to freedom. They announced they were going to hold their own gathering at a city park and go down the deserted city streets to protest the G20. Maybe 200 of these young people were self-described anarchists, dressed in black, many with bandannas across their faces. The police warned everyone these people were very scary. My cab driver said the anarchist spokesperson looked like Harry Potter in a black hoodie. The anarchists were joined in the park by hundreds of other activists of all ages, ultimately one thousand strong, all insisting on exercising their right to protest.
This drove the authorities crazy.
Battle dressed ninja turtles showed up at the park and formed a line across one entrance. Helicopters buzzed overhead. Armored vehicles gathered.
The crowd surged out of the park and up a side street yelling, chanting, drumming and holding signs. As they exited the park, everyone passed an ice cream truck that was playing "It's a small world after all." Indeed.
Any remaining doubts about the militarization of the police were dispelled shortly after the crowd left the park. A few blocks away, the police unveiled their latest high tech anti-protester toy. It was mounted on the back of a huge black truck. The Pittsburgh-Gazette described it as Long Range Acoustic Device designed to break up crowds with piercing noise. Similar devices have been used in Fallujah, Mosul and Basra, Iraq. The police backed the truck up, told people not to go any further down the street and then blasted them with piercing noise.
The crowd then moved to other streets. Now, they were being tracked by helicopters. The police repeatedly tried to block them from regrouping, ultimately firing tear gas into the crowd, injuring hundreds, including people in the residential neighborhood where the police decided to confront the marchers. I was treated to some of the tear gas myself and I found the Pittsburgh brand to be spiced with a hint of kielbasa. Fortunately, I was handed some paper towels soaked in apple cider vinegar, which helped fight the tears and cough a bit. Who would have thought?
After the large group broke and ran from the tear gas, smaller groups went into commercial neighborhoods and broke glass at a bank and a couple of other businesses. The police chased and the glass breakers ran. And the police chased and the people ran. For a few hours.
By day, the police were menacing, but at night they lost their cool. Around a park by the University of Pittsburgh, the ninja turtles pushed and shoved and beat and arrested not just protesters, but people passing by. One young woman reported she and her friend had watched "Grey's Anatomy" and were on their way back to their dorm when they were cornered by police. One was bruised by a police baton and her friend was arrested. Police shot tear gas, pepper spray, smoke canisters and rubber bullets. They pushed with big plastic shields and struck with batons.
The biggest march was Friday. Thousands of people from Pittsburgh and other places protested the G20. Since the court had ruled on this march, the police did not confront the marchers. Ninja-turtled police showed up in formation sometimes and the helicopters hovered, but no confrontations occurred.
Again, Friday night, riot-clad police fought with students outside of the University of Pittsburgh. To what end was just as unclear as the night before.
Ultimately about 200 were arrested, mostly in clashes with the police around the University.
The G20 leaders left by helicopter and limousine.
Pittsburgh now belongs again to the people of Pittsburgh. The cement barricades were removed; the fences were taken down; the bridges and roads were opened. The gunboats packed up and left. The police packed away their ninja-turtle outfits and tear gas and rubber bullets. They don't look like military commandos anymore. No more gunboats on the river. No more sirens all the time. No more armored vehicles and ear-splitting machines used in Iraq. On Monday, the businesses will open and kids will have to go back to school. Civil society has returned.
It is now probably even safe to exercise constitutional rights in Pittsburgh once again.
The USA really showed those terrorists didn't we?
--
http://www.truthout.org/092909D?n
Police Use Painful New Weapon on G20 Protesters
Monday 28 September 2009
by: Allison Kilkenny | AlterNet
Police used "sound cannons" to break up G-20 protest groups demonstrating in Pittsburgh.
This technology has been deployed in Iraq as an "anti-insurgent weapon" - it could easily be used as a torture tool.
Pittsburgh police demonstrated the latest in crowd control techniques on protesters when they used "sound cannons" to blast the ears of citizens near the G-20 meeting of world economic leaders. City officials said this was the first time such sound blasters, also known as "sound weapons," were used publicly.
Lavonnie Bickerstaff of the Pittsburgh Bureau of Police uses benign language like "sound amplifiers," and "long-range acoustic device" to explain the new weapons in an attempt to sanitize what is essentially a painful weapon that leaves no visible marks on its victims. The mob utilized a similar tactic on snitches when they would beat everywhere except the face. If victims have no outward bruises to show, the world is less likely to believe their stories of assault and harassment.
Unlike aerosol hand-grenades, pepper spray, and rubber bullets (all traditional methods of protest suppression also used at the G-20 protests,) the damage from sound cannons is entirely internal, and can only be preserved on video, but even then, the deafening noise cannot be fully appreciated unless one hears it in person.
(Footage of the sound cannons in action can be seen/heard below. It's clear from these videos that the extremely loud, high-pitched noise causes pain.)
The "long range acoustic device (LRAD)" is designed for long-range communication and acts as an "unmistakable warning," according to the American Technology Corporation (ATC,) which develops the instruments. "The LRAD basically is the ability to communicate clearly from 300 meters to 3 kilometers" (nearly 2 miles), said Robert Putnam of American Technology's media and investor relations during an interview with MSNBC. "It's a focused output. What distinguishes it from other communications tools out there is its ability to be heard clearly and intelligibly at a distance, unlike bullhorns."
Except, police aren't trying to send a distress call to allies 2 miles away. They're literally blasting this extreme decibel of noise directly into the ears of protesters (or any unwitting citizens) standing mere feet from the cannons. Depending on the mode of LRAD, it can blast a maximum sound of 145 to 151 decibels - equal to a gunshot - within a 3-foot (one meter) range, according to ATC. The National Institutes of Health (NIH) reports that permanent hearing loss can result from sounds at about 110 to 120 decibels in short bursts or even just 75 decibels if exposure lasts for long periods.
But there is a volume knob, Putnam notes, so its output can be less than max, purportedly to give us comfort in the knowledge that deafening citizens is left to the discretion of power-hungry police. On the decibel scale, an increase of 10 (say, from 70 to 80) means that a sound is 10 times more intense. Normal traffic noise can reach 85 decibels, reports MSNBC, but these sound cannons cannot be compared to standing beside a busy New York City road.
The BBC reported in 2005 that the "shrill sound of an LRAD at its loudest sounds something like a domestic smoke alarm, ATC says, but at 150 decibels, it is the aural equivalent to standing 30m away from a roaring jet engine and can cause major hearing damage if misused."
This technology has been deployed in Iraq as an "anti-insurgent weapon," and the sonic weaponry is also being used on protesters in Honduras. Seattle Weekly reports that this weapon could easily be used as a torture tool if one doesn't already think this is its only use.
Sonic weaponry is now being deployed domestically to put a chill on free speech. We're told this is the "humane" way to deal with protesters, but it's really just a convenient way to suppress citizens without the messy aftereffects of having to explain bullet holes to reporters. A bunch of protesters complaining about ruptured ear drums doesn't make for dramatic news.
Thursday, August 20, 2009
Times Standard Editorial on CA budget cuts
Is hope dying for the assisted living?
Richard Salzman/For the Times-Standard
08/20/2009
The Times Standard got it right with the headline, “Adding insult to injury for care providers,” on its Aug. 13th front-page story about the protest by in-home support service care providers. These assisted-living workers have been severely affected by our state's draconian budget cuts, and now the state wants them fingerprinted at their own expense!
What was not clear from the article was our representative's position on these issues, so I checked online and found that Assemblymember Wes Chesbro voted no on ABX4 19-IHSS reform (this is the bill that requires fingerprints and background checks), and he voted no on ABX4 8 -- cuts to SSI & CalWorks. I'm glad that Chesbro took the moral high ground on these two votes.
But I'm not happy about the overall budget “compromise,” which allowed for zero revenue increases despite several good proposals, such as an alcohol tax which would have brought in $1.4 billion a year; a 9.9 percent charge to the value of oil extracted from wells in California, which would have raised over $1 billion a year; and a tax on incomes of over $250,000 a year, which could net $4 billion in annual revenues.
Overall, the situation is dire for those in our society who are the most vulnerable. And when it comes to assisted living, the alternative will only cost us more, both in the short run and the long run. If these people cannot live at home, they will either become homeless or be institutionalized -- outcomes which put an even greater burden on society while providing no benefit whatsoever, not even financial.
The governor, through a constitutionally questionable use of his line item veto, cut Healthy Families by $50 million, on top of the $53 million already cut by the Legislature. According to an analysis by the Managed Risk Medical Insurance Board, this will mean that nearly 670,000 more children could be dropped from Healthy Families by next June -- despite the 22,000 children already on the waiting list to get onto Healthy Families!
These so-called “blue pencil” vetoes by the governor have included:
* slashing the remaining state support for county health clinics, such as Humboldt's Open Door Clinics, by $25 million;
* cutting the last of the state's support for Domestic Violence Shelters, such as the Humboldt Women's Shelter, by $16.4 million.
* chopping the last of the state's support for the adolescent Family Life Program by $9 million.
* slicing $52 million from the state Office of AIDS, which will result in severely decreased service in Humboldt County for HIV/AID
prevention and treatment;
* eliminating funding for two programs for the aging, which will affect Eureka's new Alzheimer's Center and the Senior Brown Bag Program.
In addition, there was a $124 million reduction for child welfare services, which will come on top of a previous cut of 10 percent. The likely result will be layoffs of hundreds of social workers and caseloads for those remaining that are unmanageable. All this will be added to a whopping $1 billion dollar cut to Medi-Cal.
The budget also amputated $375 million from CalWorks services, and most of these cuts will not begin until July of 2011. So expect the bad times to last for some time to come.
When they were created, I don't remember anyone in government saying that these “safety nets” would just exist in good times -- but that if finances got rough, which would be exactly when they are needed the most, we would cut off recipients.
Assemblymember Chesbro seems to share my outrage about these cuts, when earlier this month he said:
”The measure of any society is how well it takes care of its most vulnerable citizens. It is shameful to balance the state's budget on the backs of children, the aged, the poor and the disabled. Yet this is what the governor seems intent on doing by using the line-item veto to cut nearly $500 million from programs that provide health care for children from impoverished families and services for the elderly, victims of domestic violence, those suffering from AIDS and abused and neglected youths.”
”I don't believe the governor has the legal right to make these cuts. The California Constitution doesn't allow the governor to line-item veto bills that reduce the budget. He can only veto individual items from appropriations bills. The governor is acting like a dictator by assuming power that isn't legally his.”
All of us here on the North Coast should contact the governor (gov.ca.gov) and echo Chesbro's remarks. We should also come to grips with the reality that any real fix is going to require some reform to Prop. 13.
Richard Salzman/For the Times-Standard
08/20/2009
The Times Standard got it right with the headline, “Adding insult to injury for care providers,” on its Aug. 13th front-page story about the protest by in-home support service care providers. These assisted-living workers have been severely affected by our state's draconian budget cuts, and now the state wants them fingerprinted at their own expense!
What was not clear from the article was our representative's position on these issues, so I checked online and found that Assemblymember Wes Chesbro voted no on ABX4 19-IHSS reform (this is the bill that requires fingerprints and background checks), and he voted no on ABX4 8 -- cuts to SSI & CalWorks. I'm glad that Chesbro took the moral high ground on these two votes.
But I'm not happy about the overall budget “compromise,” which allowed for zero revenue increases despite several good proposals, such as an alcohol tax which would have brought in $1.4 billion a year; a 9.9 percent charge to the value of oil extracted from wells in California, which would have raised over $1 billion a year; and a tax on incomes of over $250,000 a year, which could net $4 billion in annual revenues.
Overall, the situation is dire for those in our society who are the most vulnerable. And when it comes to assisted living, the alternative will only cost us more, both in the short run and the long run. If these people cannot live at home, they will either become homeless or be institutionalized -- outcomes which put an even greater burden on society while providing no benefit whatsoever, not even financial.
The governor, through a constitutionally questionable use of his line item veto, cut Healthy Families by $50 million, on top of the $53 million already cut by the Legislature. According to an analysis by the Managed Risk Medical Insurance Board, this will mean that nearly 670,000 more children could be dropped from Healthy Families by next June -- despite the 22,000 children already on the waiting list to get onto Healthy Families!
These so-called “blue pencil” vetoes by the governor have included:
* slashing the remaining state support for county health clinics, such as Humboldt's Open Door Clinics, by $25 million;
* cutting the last of the state's support for Domestic Violence Shelters, such as the Humboldt Women's Shelter, by $16.4 million.
* chopping the last of the state's support for the adolescent Family Life Program by $9 million.
* slicing $52 million from the state Office of AIDS, which will result in severely decreased service in Humboldt County for HIV/AID
prevention and treatment;
* eliminating funding for two programs for the aging, which will affect Eureka's new Alzheimer's Center and the Senior Brown Bag Program.
In addition, there was a $124 million reduction for child welfare services, which will come on top of a previous cut of 10 percent. The likely result will be layoffs of hundreds of social workers and caseloads for those remaining that are unmanageable. All this will be added to a whopping $1 billion dollar cut to Medi-Cal.
The budget also amputated $375 million from CalWorks services, and most of these cuts will not begin until July of 2011. So expect the bad times to last for some time to come.
When they were created, I don't remember anyone in government saying that these “safety nets” would just exist in good times -- but that if finances got rough, which would be exactly when they are needed the most, we would cut off recipients.
Assemblymember Chesbro seems to share my outrage about these cuts, when earlier this month he said:
”The measure of any society is how well it takes care of its most vulnerable citizens. It is shameful to balance the state's budget on the backs of children, the aged, the poor and the disabled. Yet this is what the governor seems intent on doing by using the line-item veto to cut nearly $500 million from programs that provide health care for children from impoverished families and services for the elderly, victims of domestic violence, those suffering from AIDS and abused and neglected youths.”
”I don't believe the governor has the legal right to make these cuts. The California Constitution doesn't allow the governor to line-item veto bills that reduce the budget. He can only veto individual items from appropriations bills. The governor is acting like a dictator by assuming power that isn't legally his.”
All of us here on the North Coast should contact the governor (gov.ca.gov) and echo Chesbro's remarks. We should also come to grips with the reality that any real fix is going to require some reform to Prop. 13.
Wednesday, July 29, 2009
Ask Obama to restore aid to Darfur
Sign the open letter to President Obama
With the rainy season in Darfur approaching and aid yet to be restored, we're calling for bold, agenda-setting leadership on Sudan.
The Save Darfur Coalition, ENOUGH Project, and GI-NET have issued an open letter outlining a plan of action for President Obama.
But this movement has always been about citizens of conscience and courage like you speaking out together—so please, use the form on this website to sign onto the letter today:
http://action.savedarfur.org/campaign/jointletter
With the rainy season in Darfur approaching and aid yet to be restored, we're calling for bold, agenda-setting leadership on Sudan.
The Save Darfur Coalition, ENOUGH Project, and GI-NET have issued an open letter outlining a plan of action for President Obama.
But this movement has always been about citizens of conscience and courage like you speaking out together—so please, use the form on this website to sign onto the letter today:
http://action.savedarfur.org/campaign/jointletter
Thursday, July 16, 2009
Support Kucinich State Single-Payer Amendment
*Urgent: Support Kucinich State Single-Payer Amendment*
Rep. Dennis Kucinich has proposed a crucial amendment for single-payer
healthcare and we urgently need you to call one or more of the 26
Democrats on the House Education and Labor Committee. Our message is simple:
Please support Rep. Kucinich's Amendment today to let states create
single-payer healthcare systems. The federal government should give
states the freedom to fix our health care crisis.
You can call any time and leave a voicemail if no one answers. If you do
speak with a staffer, please post their reply here:
http://tr.im/sJeO
You can also urge your Senators and Representatives to support the
Single Payer Health Plan (H.R. 676) by signing our petition:
http://tr.im/sJfk
The Kucinich Amendment would let individual states create single-payer
healthcare systems even if Congress fails to create a nationwide
single-payer system.
That's exactly how Canada evolved towards single-payer: one province at
a time. Given the corporate-funded resistance to single-payer in
Congress, the U.S. may have to follow the Canadian path.
Progressive activists in California, Illinois and Pennsylvania are
leading the way for single-payer systems and the Kucinich Amendment
would remove the legal roadblocks they face.
The fate of the Kucinich Amendment rests in the hands of the 26
Democrats below. Please call as many as you can.
George Miller (CA-7) 202-225-2095
Dale Kildee (MI-5) 202-225-3611
Donald Payne (NJ-10) 202-225-3436
Robert Andrews (NJ-1) 202-225-6501
Bobby Scott (VA-3) 202-225-8351
Lynn Woolsey (CA-6) 202-225-5161
Ruben Hinojosa (TX-15) 202-225-2531
Carolyn McCarthy (NY-4) 202-225-5516
John Tierney (MA-6) 202-225-8020
David Wu (OR-1) 202-225-0855
Rush Holt (NJ-12) 202-225-5801
Susan Davis (CA-53) 202-225-2040
Raul Grijalva (AZ-7) 202-225-2435
Tim Bishop (NY-1) 202-225-3826
Joe Sestak (PA-7) 202-225-2011
David Loebsack (IA-2) 202-225-6576
Mazie Hirono (HI-2) 202-225-4906
Jason Altmire (PA-4) 202-225-2565
Phil Hare (IL-17) 202-225-5905
Yvette Clarke (NY-11) 202-225-6231
Joe Courtney (CT-2) 202-225-2076
Carol Shea-Porter (NH-1) 202-225-5456
Marcia Fudge (OH-11) 202-225-7032
Jared Polis (CO-2) 202-225-2161
Paul Tonko (NY-21) 202-225-5076
Dina Titus (NV-3) 202-225-3252
Rep. Dennis Kucinich has proposed a crucial amendment for single-payer
healthcare and we urgently need you to call one or more of the 26
Democrats on the House Education and Labor Committee. Our message is simple:
Please support Rep. Kucinich's Amendment today to let states create
single-payer healthcare systems. The federal government should give
states the freedom to fix our health care crisis.
You can call any time and leave a voicemail if no one answers. If you do
speak with a staffer, please post their reply here:
http://tr.im/sJeO
You can also urge your Senators and Representatives to support the
Single Payer Health Plan (H.R. 676) by signing our petition:
http://tr.im/sJfk
The Kucinich Amendment would let individual states create single-payer
healthcare systems even if Congress fails to create a nationwide
single-payer system.
That's exactly how Canada evolved towards single-payer: one province at
a time. Given the corporate-funded resistance to single-payer in
Congress, the U.S. may have to follow the Canadian path.
Progressive activists in California, Illinois and Pennsylvania are
leading the way for single-payer systems and the Kucinich Amendment
would remove the legal roadblocks they face.
The fate of the Kucinich Amendment rests in the hands of the 26
Democrats below. Please call as many as you can.
George Miller (CA-7) 202-225-2095
Dale Kildee (MI-5) 202-225-3611
Donald Payne (NJ-10) 202-225-3436
Robert Andrews (NJ-1) 202-225-6501
Bobby Scott (VA-3) 202-225-8351
Lynn Woolsey (CA-6) 202-225-5161
Ruben Hinojosa (TX-15) 202-225-2531
Carolyn McCarthy (NY-4) 202-225-5516
John Tierney (MA-6) 202-225-8020
David Wu (OR-1) 202-225-0855
Rush Holt (NJ-12) 202-225-5801
Susan Davis (CA-53) 202-225-2040
Raul Grijalva (AZ-7) 202-225-2435
Tim Bishop (NY-1) 202-225-3826
Joe Sestak (PA-7) 202-225-2011
David Loebsack (IA-2) 202-225-6576
Mazie Hirono (HI-2) 202-225-4906
Jason Altmire (PA-4) 202-225-2565
Phil Hare (IL-17) 202-225-5905
Yvette Clarke (NY-11) 202-225-6231
Joe Courtney (CT-2) 202-225-2076
Carol Shea-Porter (NH-1) 202-225-5456
Marcia Fudge (OH-11) 202-225-7032
Jared Polis (CO-2) 202-225-2161
Paul Tonko (NY-21) 202-225-5076
Dina Titus (NV-3) 202-225-3252
Monday, June 29, 2009
Humboldt's Election Transparency Project in N.Y. Times
From: Letters to the editor of the New York Times
To the Editor:
Thank you for your editorial supporting the use of paper ballots. I’d like to call your attention to the discovery by the Humboldt County Election Transparency Project that even in Humboldt County, California, where paper ballots are in use, the Diebold GEMS system dropped an entire batch of 197 ballots from its final results in the November 2008 election, leaving no evidence in its “audit” trail.
The discovery was made by the Transparency Project, a volunteer group of which I am a member, using my ballot-counting software.
California’s secretary of state, Debra Bowen, conducted an investigation and discovered many flaws in GEMS, leading her to decertify the version of GEMS then used in Humboldt County.
It is vital that America return to paper ballots. It is equally vital that these ballots be made available for independent counting, whether by hand or by computer-assisted projects like the Humboldt County Election Transparency Project. No democracy can function when its election results are suspect.
Mitch Trachtenberg
Trinidad, Calif., June 23, 2009
To the Editor:
Thank you for your editorial supporting the use of paper ballots. I’d like to call your attention to the discovery by the Humboldt County Election Transparency Project that even in Humboldt County, California, where paper ballots are in use, the Diebold GEMS system dropped an entire batch of 197 ballots from its final results in the November 2008 election, leaving no evidence in its “audit” trail.
The discovery was made by the Transparency Project, a volunteer group of which I am a member, using my ballot-counting software.
California’s secretary of state, Debra Bowen, conducted an investigation and discovered many flaws in GEMS, leading her to decertify the version of GEMS then used in Humboldt County.
It is vital that America return to paper ballots. It is equally vital that these ballots be made available for independent counting, whether by hand or by computer-assisted projects like the Humboldt County Election Transparency Project. No democracy can function when its election results are suspect.
Mitch Trachtenberg
Trinidad, Calif., June 23, 2009
Wednesday, June 24, 2009
More Arrests at "Mountain Justice Summer" Protest
The people of Appalachian coal country are continuing their struggle against big coal's mountaintop removal practices and the subsequent destruction of their watersheds. Where I live in Humboldt County California, "Redwood Summer" brought national attention to the clear cutting of the last of the ancient old growth redwood forests (less 3% of the original old growth forest now remain) and the decline of our rivers, streams and fish populations, which continues today. Learn more and offer your support at: www.mountainjusticesummer.org
The protest and arrests reported below were staged in advance of a Congressional hearing titled, "The Impacts of Mountaintop Removal Mining on Water Quality in Appalachia", scheduled for this Thursday June 25th before the Water and Wildlife subcommittee of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee.
Take a moment to contact the members of this committee right now:
http://epw.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?FuseAction=Subcommittees.Subcommittee&Subcommittee_id=47af17cb-6eeb-4fdc-b02d-0abb49d2eacb
Click on each members name to be taken to their website, and then click on contact. Ask them to act now to stop mountain top removal.
You should also ask all Senators to join Senator Cardin as a sponsor of S. 696, The Appalachian Restoration Act, that would outlaw this mining practice. Find your senator here:
http://www.senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm
--------
http://www.ens-newswire.com/ens/jun2009/2009-06-23-01.asp
Climate Scientist James Hansen Arrested in Mountaintop Removal Protest
Coal River Valley, West Virginia, June 23, 2009 - West Virginia State Police today arrested at least 29 demonstrators, including government climate scientist Dr. James Hansen, actress Daryl Hannah, and 94 year-old former West Virginia Congressman Ken Hechler, for tresspassing on the property of a mountaintop removal coal mining company to protest the destructive practice.
The protesters deliberately entered the Goals Coal plant owned by coal giant Massey Energy to draw public attention to the destruction of mountains immediately above the Coal River Valley community of Sundial in Raleigh County.
The demonstrators attempted to deliver a letter of demands to the company regarding this facility, which they say threatens the students at Marsh Fork Elementary School.
"I am not a politician; I am a scientist and a citizen," said Hansen, who is the director of the NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies in New York City and adjunct professor in the Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences at Columbia University.
"Politicians may have to advocate for halfway measures if they choose. But it is our responsibility to make sure our representatives feel the full force of citizens who speak for what is right, not what is politically expedient," Hansen told a crowd of about 350 people gathered at Marsh Fork Elementary. "Mountaintop removal, providing only a small fraction of our energy, should be abolished."
Also arrested were Michael Brune, executive director of the nonprofit Rainforest Action Network; and Goldman Prize winner Judy Bonds, co-director of the nonprofit Coal River Mountain Watch, along with dozens of Coal River Valley residents and allies.
The protest was staged in advance of a Congressional hearing titled, The Impacts of Mountaintop Removal Mining on Water Quality in Appalachia, scheduled for Thursday before the Water and Wildlife subcommittee of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee.
The action comes after the Obama administration's announcement last week that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency will reform, but not abolish, the strip mining practice that removes the tops of mountains to get at coal seams and then dumps the waste rock into valley streams below.
For 20 years, Dr. Hansen has been outspoken on issue of global warming and the dangers of fossil fuel combustion. He criticized the Bush administration for its suppport of fossil fuels, and now he is criticizing the Obama administration.
In the June 22 issue of Yale University's "Environment 360" magazine, Hansen wrote, "The Obama administration is being forced into a political compromise. It has sacrificed a strong position on mountaintop removal in order to ensure the support of coal-state legislators for a climate bill. The political pressures are very real. But this is an approach to coal that defeats the purpose of the administration’s larger efforts to fight climate change, a sad political bargain that will never get us the change we need on mountaintop removal, coal or the climate."
Coal companies that engage in mountaintop removal mining are clear-cutting thousands of acres of some of the world's most biologically diverse forests, the protesters said in a statement today. "They're burying biologically crucial headwaters streams with blasting debris, releasing toxic levels of heavy metals into the remaining streams and groundwater and poisoning essential drinking water. According to the EPA, this destructive practice has damaged or destroyed nearly 2,000 miles of streams and threatens to destroy 1.4 million acres of forest by 2020."
"Every day, mountaintop removal mines use more explosive power than the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima," said Bo Webb, an organizer of today's protest and a Coal River Valley Resident. "West Virginians oppose mountaintop removal in our communities. This is not our traditional way of life, and we do not support the destruction of our land or our communities."
"We are all complicit in mountaintop removal whenever we turn on our lights, so we are all responsible for ending it. Mountaintop removal, the world's worst strip-mining, is unacceptable. Period." said Brune. "This is not a practice that needs to be reformed. It is a practice that needs to be abolished."
Mountaintop removal coal provides less than eight percent of all coal produced in the United States, and could be replaced with energy efficiency initiatives or renewable energy sources, the demonstrators say.
They point to recent studies showing that the mountains of Appalachia could support commercial scale wind energy facilities, which would bring long-term, sustainable jobs to the region, but only if the mountains are left standing.
"By sacrificing the Appalachian Mountains for the country's coal addiction, we undermine future investments in 21st century clean energy solutions that will protect our planet, produce more jobs and preserve our natural resources," Brune said.
Today's demonstration is the latest in a string of mountaintop removal protests that saw four people enter Massey Energy's mountaintop removal mine site near Twilight, West Virginia on June 18 to display a banner reading, "stop mountaintop removal mining."
These demonstrators hung their banner from a 150-foot dragline machine - the first time a dragline has been scaled on a mountaintop removal site. The huge piece of equipment removes house-sized chunks of blasted rock and earth to expose coal.
The June 18 protest occurred three days after the Obama administration announced its plan to reform, but not abolish, mountaintop removal mining.
On May 23, more than 75 residents of the Coal River Valley and members of a coalition that includes Mountain Justice and Climate Ground Zero picketed the entrance to Massey Energy's Marfork mining complex. Seven people were arrested. They were protesting the company's plans to blast 100 feet away from the Brushy Fork coal sludge impoundment, which they fear could be breached, releasing the toxic waste.
"It's way past time for civil disobedience to stop mountaintop removal and move quickly toward clean, renewable energy sources," said Bonds, who was arrested today. "For over a century, Appalachian communities have been crushed, flooded, and poisoned as a result of the country's dangerous and outdated reliance on coal. How could the country care so little about our American mountains, our culture and our lives?"
Copyright Environment News Service (ENS) 2009. All rights reserved.
---
related story: http://www.commondreams.org/view/2009/06/22
--------------
The protest and arrests reported below were staged in advance of a Congressional hearing titled, "The Impacts of Mountaintop Removal Mining on Water Quality in Appalachia", scheduled for this Thursday June 25th before the Water and Wildlife subcommittee of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee.
Take a moment to contact the members of this committee right now:
http://epw.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?FuseAction=Subcommittees.Subcommittee&Subcommittee_id=47af17cb-6eeb-4fdc-b02d-0abb49d2eacb
Click on each members name to be taken to their website, and then click on contact. Ask them to act now to stop mountain top removal.
You should also ask all Senators to join Senator Cardin as a sponsor of S. 696, The Appalachian Restoration Act, that would outlaw this mining practice. Find your senator here:
http://www.senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm
--------
http://www.ens-newswire.com/ens/jun2009/2009-06-23-01.asp
Climate Scientist James Hansen Arrested in Mountaintop Removal Protest
Coal River Valley, West Virginia, June 23, 2009 - West Virginia State Police today arrested at least 29 demonstrators, including government climate scientist Dr. James Hansen, actress Daryl Hannah, and 94 year-old former West Virginia Congressman Ken Hechler, for tresspassing on the property of a mountaintop removal coal mining company to protest the destructive practice.
The protesters deliberately entered the Goals Coal plant owned by coal giant Massey Energy to draw public attention to the destruction of mountains immediately above the Coal River Valley community of Sundial in Raleigh County.
The demonstrators attempted to deliver a letter of demands to the company regarding this facility, which they say threatens the students at Marsh Fork Elementary School.
"I am not a politician; I am a scientist and a citizen," said Hansen, who is the director of the NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies in New York City and adjunct professor in the Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences at Columbia University.
"Politicians may have to advocate for halfway measures if they choose. But it is our responsibility to make sure our representatives feel the full force of citizens who speak for what is right, not what is politically expedient," Hansen told a crowd of about 350 people gathered at Marsh Fork Elementary. "Mountaintop removal, providing only a small fraction of our energy, should be abolished."
Also arrested were Michael Brune, executive director of the nonprofit Rainforest Action Network; and Goldman Prize winner Judy Bonds, co-director of the nonprofit Coal River Mountain Watch, along with dozens of Coal River Valley residents and allies.
The protest was staged in advance of a Congressional hearing titled, The Impacts of Mountaintop Removal Mining on Water Quality in Appalachia, scheduled for Thursday before the Water and Wildlife subcommittee of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee.
The action comes after the Obama administration's announcement last week that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency will reform, but not abolish, the strip mining practice that removes the tops of mountains to get at coal seams and then dumps the waste rock into valley streams below.
For 20 years, Dr. Hansen has been outspoken on issue of global warming and the dangers of fossil fuel combustion. He criticized the Bush administration for its suppport of fossil fuels, and now he is criticizing the Obama administration.
In the June 22 issue
Coal companies that engage in mountaintop removal mining are clear-cutting thousands of acres of some of the world's most biologically diverse forests, the protesters said in a statement today. "They're burying biologically crucial headwaters streams with blasting debris, releasing toxic levels of heavy metals into the remaining streams and groundwater and poisoning essential drinking water. According to the EPA, this destructive practice has damaged or destroyed nearly 2,000 miles of streams and threatens to destroy 1.4 million acres of forest by 2020."
"Every day, mountaintop removal mines use more explosive power than the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima," said Bo Webb, an organizer of today's protest and a Coal River Valley Resident. "West Virginians oppose mountaintop removal in our communities. This is not our traditional way of life, and we do not support the destruction of our land or our communities."
"We are all complicit in mountaintop removal whenever we turn on our lights, so we are all responsible for ending it. Mountaintop removal, the world's worst strip-mining, is unacceptable. Period." said Brune. "This is not a practice that needs to be reformed. It is a practice that needs to be abolished."
Mountaintop removal coal provides less than eight percent of all coal produced in the United States, and could be replaced with energy efficiency initiatives or renewable energy sources, the demonstrators say.
They point to recent studies showing that the mountains of Appalachia could support commercial scale wind energy facilities, which would bring long-term, sustainable jobs to the region, but only if the mountains are left standing.
"By sacrificing the Appalachian Mountains for the country's coal addiction, we undermine future investments in 21st century clean energy solutions that will protect our planet, produce more jobs and preserve our natural resources," Brune said.
Today's demonstration is the latest in a string of mountaintop removal protests that saw four people enter Massey Energy's mountaintop removal mine site near Twilight, West Virginia on June 18 to display a banner reading, "stop mountaintop removal mining."
These demonstrators hung their banner from a 150-foot dragline machine - the first time a dragline has been scaled on a mountaintop removal site. The huge piece of equipment removes house-sized chunks of blasted rock and earth to expose coal.
The June 18 protest occurred three days after the Obama administration announced its plan to reform, but not abolish, mountaintop removal mining.
On May 23, more than 75 residents of the Coal River Valley and members of a coalition that includes Mountain Justice and Climate Ground Zero picketed the entrance to Massey Energy's Marfork mining complex. Seven people were arrested. They were protesting the company's plans to blast 100 feet away from the Brushy Fork coal sludge impoundment, which they fear could be breached, releasing the toxic waste.
"It's way past time for civil disobedience to stop mountaintop removal and move quickly toward clean, renewable energy sources," said Bonds, who was arrested today. "For over a century, Appalachian communities have been crushed, flooded, and poisoned as a result of the country's dangerous and outdated reliance on coal. How could the country care so little about our American mountains, our culture and our lives?"
Copyright Environment News Service (ENS) 2009. All rights reserved.
---
related story: http://www.commondreams.org/view/2009/06/22
--------------
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