And the people looked into each others’ eyes,
Recognized each others’ hurts
And began to love one another.
You have probably already heard something about the Montenay Incinerator, either through the media, through local appeals, etc. Here's my take on it and my request of you. Please also see my more detailed article at Charleston Peace.Net
The overarching environmental issues surrounding the incinerator and waste disposal in our county are important, and I’ll get into them in another article. However, today I want to say that the real underlying issue is the history of Environmental Racism perpetrated against the communities of the neck area, particularly Union Heights, Chicora/Cherokee, and Rosemont. We must all stand up and speak out against this practice and say no more, it ends today. We must address the wrongs that have already been done.
And the people looked into each others’ eyes,
Recognized each others’ hurts
And began to love one another.
Please take 5 minutes to call and/or email your respective County Council representatives
County Council representatives and tell them unequivocally that we will not stand for continued incineration 200 yards from our Union Heights neighbors and that all garbage transport must bypass these neighborhoods, starting today!
Thank you so much!
Kristen French
ThinkingPeople members need to believe in the bulk of our vision statement and work to support that vision. You are asked to attend at least 4 ThinkingPeople events a year. We don't burden you with many meetings so input via email is crucial and appreciated. No obstacle courses or gigantic membership fees (not that we are opposed)! To get started, we will add you to the ThinkingPeople email list. That will alert you to our events and others around town that we support.
Scalia Cites False Information in Habeas Corpus Dissent
Wednesday 25 June 2008
by: Marjorie Cohn, t r u t h o u t | Perspective
Marjorie Cohn says, "Scalia bolstered his hysterical claim that the Boumediene decision 'will almost certainly cause more Americans to be killed' with stale information that was proven to be false a year ago."
To bolster his argument that the Guantanamo detainees should be denied the right to prove their innocence in federal courts, Justice Antonin Scalia wrote in his dissent in Boumediene v. Bush: "At least 30 of those prisoners hitherto released from Guantanamo have returned to the battlefield." It turns out that statement is false.
According to a new report by Seton Hall Law Center for Policy and Research, "The statistic was endorsed by a Senate Minority Report issued June 26, 2007, which cites a media outlet, CNN. CNN, in turn, named the DoD [Department of Defense] as its source. The '30' number, however, was corrected in a DoD press release issued in July 2007, and a DoD document submitted to the House Foreign Relations Committee on May 20, 2008, abandons the claim entirely."
The largest possible number of detainees who could have "returned to the fight" is 12; however, the Department of Defense has no system for tracking the whereabouts of released detainees. The only one who has undisputedly taken up arms against the United States or its allies, "ISN 220," was released by political officers of the DoD against the recommendations of military officers.
Scalia bolstered his hysterical claim that the Boumediene decision "will almost certainly cause more Americans to be killed" with stale information that was proven to be false one year ago. Professor Mark Denbeaux, director of the Seton Hall Center, said, Scalia "was relying uncritically on information that originated with a party in the case before him."
The Supreme Court decided in a 5-4 decision that the Guantanamo detainees were entitled to file petitions for writ of habeas corpus to challenge their detention. More than 200 men who have been held for up to six years and have never been charged with a crime will now have their day in court. Many were snatched from their homes, picked up off the street or in airports, or sold to the US military by warlords for bounty.
Scalia, who sits on the highest court in the land, has acted as a loyal foot soldier for the executive branch of government.
There have been 4,423 coalition deaths -- 4,110 Americans, two Australians, 176 Britons, 13 Bulgarians, one Czech, seven Danes, two Dutch, two Estonians, one Fijian, five Georgians, one Hungarian, 33 Italians, one Kazakh, one Korean, three Latvian, 22 Poles, three Romanians, five Salvadoran, four Slovaks, 11 Spaniards, two Thai and 18 Ukrainians -- in the war in Iraq as of June 26, 2008, according to a CNN count. This includes the soldiers, Marines, airmen, sailors and Coast Guardsmen whose deaths have been reported by their country's governments. Also included are seven employees of the U.S. Defense Department.
At least 30,247 U.S. troops have been wounded in action, according to the Pentagon. This does not include soldiers who die of their wounds or suicides when they are stateside.
Documented deaths of Iraqi civilians are more than 93,060. Most deaths are not documented and some experts believe the number is closer to over 2 million.
Bill Moyers and Michael Winship | It Was Oil, All Along
For Truthout, Bill Moyers and Michael Winship write: "Oh, no, they told us, Iraq isn't a war about oil. That's cynical and simplistic, they said. It's about terror and al-Qaeda and toppling a dictator and spreading democracy and protecting ourselves from weapons of mass destruction. But one by one, these concocted rationales went up in smoke, fire and ashes. And now the bottom line turns out to be ... the bottom line. It is about oil."
Full story here
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The Associated Press reports:
"The Pentagon is preparing to order roughly 30,000 troops to Iraq early next year in a move that would allow the US to maintain 15 combat brigades in the country through 2009."
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HERE to sign the Military Families Speak Out petition.
