(the following was liberated, with permission, from hilliebilly; changes are minimal).



Friends and comrades, [today is] the National Day of Solidarity with the R.N.C. 8. The R.N.C. 8 are our comrades, arrested in Minnesota, U.S.A. for providing logistical support for the protesters who came to Saint Paul in September '08 to express our feelings of dislike, indeed loathing, for the damned fascists who attended the Republican National Convention.

The R.N.C. 8 may be tried in September of '09 and their trial will be the most important U.S.A. political trial in forty years. They are to be tried under Minnesota's equivalent of the U.S.A. Patriot Act, and our very right to dissent in a supposedly "free" country is at risk.

I will now give you a link to the Friends of the R.N.C. 8, and you can learn much more from Twin Cities Indymedia as well. Here's the link!

http://rnc8.org/

Love and anarchy! Billy

P.S. I want to add that the Ramsey County Attorney, tasked with persecuting (sorry, "prosecuting") the R.N.C. 8 is Susan Gaertner, a Democrat who would like to be Governor of Minnesota. Democrats, mind you, are the Enemy too.

- Billy

This was originally posted as a MySpace bulletin from CrimethInc.; all CrimethInc. writings are subject to an anti-copyright. As in, anybody can post them anywhere for any reason at all. I did not write this.

In May 2006, the Department of Homeland Security opened its first prison for immigrant families 30 miles north of Austin. It is the first family detention center in the country to be based on the penal model, though plans were quickly made to build more.

The T Don Hutto facility holds men, women (some pregnant), children, and infants, none of whom have a criminal past. Administered by the Corrections Corporation of America (CCA), the country's largest for-profit corrections company, Hutto lacks proper licensing and medical facilities, and has been proven to traumatize families.

WCCC Judge Gattis on TD Hutto vote: "Unless something jumps up and bites me, I will vote to renew"

Bite him. Before this Tuesday's vote!

Contact WCCC members and tell them to vote NO Hutto Renewal (See contact info below)

Their offices will be closed by now, but flood their voicemail and email boxes tonight!

Imprisoning people charged with no crime, while they await decision re. applications for citizenship and asylum, is NOT effective immigration policy, does NOT secure our borders, and has NOTHING to do
with patriotism. It is a corrupt means to enrich an already wealthy corporation by exploiting the weakest among us!

As partners in the contract for the most expensive method to effectively assure that non-criminal immigrants appear at their hearings, the Williamson County Commissioners Court (WCCC) exhibits a disregard for fiscal responsibility with taxpayer dollars during a national economic crisis.

This prison is exempt from any governmental regulation and has no government oversight—and a continuing record of abuses. With the lapse of the only outside (court-ordered) oversight of this facility in August of 2009 those risks are greatly elevated in renewal. (Article in March 2008 New Yorker provides a good chronicle)

Partnering with Corrections Corporation of American, with its less-than-admirable record of management, is a bad business practice and exposes Williamson County taxpayers to financial risks from poor management, bad employees, and external lawsuits—all of which are beyond their capacity to control. (See attached "Letter to WCCC re CCA Business Practices.)

Williamson County's reputation has been damaged as a result of a number of specific offenses relating to the operation of the facility, as well as its very existence. Contract renewal would affirm WCCC's approval of the disgraces of T Don Hutto and further damage our image locally, nationally, and internationally.

Evidence presented at the September public forum (which WCCC boycotted) stated that T Don Hutto's operation is probably a deterrent to future, clean, economic development in the area; renewal would send a very bad signal for the future of such growth; it is actually anti-economic development!

This proposal fails the simple "risk vs. benefits" of any business undertaking. The less than $16,000 monthly maximum that Williamson County collects under this contract cannot be reasonably argued to compensate for the negatives that exist.

WCCC has had a very rough record re. contracts to date; re-entering this partnership does nothing to convince citizens that WCCC has been learned anything from those previous costly contract mistakes.

Please Contact :

Judge Dan Gattis: ctyjudge@wilco,org (512) 943-1550

Commissioner Lisa Birkman: lbirkman@wilco.org ( 512) 733-5380

Commissioner Cynthia Long: clong@wilco.org (512) 260-4280)

Commissioner Valerie Covey: vcovey@wilco.org (512) 943-3370

Commissioner Ron Morrison: rmorrison@wilco.org (512) 846-1190

Phone, email, by end of business Monday and tell them NO to Hutto!

(link)

Dear readers, I have had a shocking and dramatic change of heart. John McCain and Sarah Palin have convinced me that overturning Roe v. Wade is a magnificent idea and we must pursue it at once.

John McCain particularly influenced me on this because he is a beacon of character standing up for the rights of the unborn. I’m positive he’s caught on to us miserable sluts having abortions willy-nilly and with the same frequency with which we sneeze. Obviously, we need to be stopped like the runaway trains of death we are. He is a very perceptive man. And, a maverick.

I am a maverick too. Thus, I have a plan~

To the women involved:

In the case of pregnancy by rape and incest, all I can say is, too bad lady – it’s not the baby’s fault and your uterus does not belong to you anymore. It’s a place for men to put sperm and public policy. Your body is to be referred to now as “The Uterus.” You will have and raise a baby born by rape, incest, reckless youth, impossible genetic defect be damned, by failed condom or pill you forgot to take. If you said “No” and he said “Yes” – well, that’s just the way he rolled. Congratulations to your uterus. Now plan a baby shower and get over it.

To the men involved:

Now, in exchange for banning abortions entirely, I would like to address another part of human anatomy which is your dick, sir. Once you put your dick in a vagina and make a girl pregnant such that her uterus is engaged with your child, in exchange for outlawing abortions, you will be aware that the following will occur (which you won’t mind doing because you people love babies, respect life and embrace fatherhood whenever it comes to you as evidenced by the millions of father free children we have now):

At 13 years old, “men” will register a mandatory DNA sample and sign a form for the Social Security Administration. It reads:

I understand women cannot impregnate themselves. I agree to be accountable (50%) financially, (50%) custodially (100%) emotionally and (100%) paternally to each child born out of every single vagina I stick my wanker in throughout my lifetime, OR suffer significant jail time, property seizures and weekly garnishments to repay the government for my portion of applicable adoption/social/medical services and vasectomy fees/procedures rendered as a result of every unintended pregnancy. In lieu of 50% physical custody, I authorize the US Treasury to enforce child support laws using the expertise of the FBI if necessary. I give local government the authority to give me a vasectomy should it be in the public interest. It’s about time legislating medical procedures concerning my personal procreation process apply to men and women equally. If the law forces “The Uterus” to have all children, the law should be able to force me to have no children or control the number of offspring I have to balance things out.

X_______________________________.

For rape and incest cases, fathers will be apprehended via the national DNA registry, put in jail for 18 years and required to work making bird cages or hat racks for all I care. Monies paid to bio dad for said work shall be remanded to the birth mother or adoptive family until the child is 18. The United States government will assume the burden for life-long counseling for the rape victim, her family and her other children, if any. The United States of America will also pay for medical care for the victim and child for life. Should “The Uterus” contract AIDS or any other disease during the assault, mom is to be given a house to raise the child in.

John McCain has several homes. In fact, he can’t recall how many he has. Since he is such a patriot, I say he gives a house to a single mom of a child born of a savage rape. That’s what a maverick would do.

Regarding “The Uterus” and fathers who are 13-17 years old, who cannot have, or do not have a drivers license – walk to medical appointments. If you live in a rural community, 30 miles away from any hospital – ride your skateboard until you’re old enough to go to the DMV and get your damned license.

About teen parents, FYI, John McCain will not be your president. He will be the president of your fetus only. Drop out of school, get a work permit and get busy at Radio Shack or wash cars for the rest of your life. Once you have sex and get pregnant, both parents need to get a job. If you only make it to 9th grade – well, it sucks to be you and you can’t vote anyway. You’re parents now. So what if you’re not responsible enough to keep a fish alive for a month. Give it up for adoption and don’t blubber and tell me you can’t imagine it.

Sometimes, it takes a visionary like John McCain to open our eyes to the endless possibilities the future brings. Despite birthing and mothering every American baby from 1776 to present- standing up for the rights of the born on a daily basis…our women are incompetent and immoral creatures bereft of judgment to make the difficult calls in our own lives. I do not know what I was thinking to presume a woman or a girl, her parents, her partner, her clergy and her physician should decide what happens in her uterus. John McCain or Sarah Palin should decide.

We've come a long way baby.

(link)

Scientists may have cured cancer last week.

Yep.

So, why haven’t the media picked up on it?

Here’s the deal. Researchers at the University of Alberta in Edmonton, Canada found a cheap and easy to produce drug that kills almost all cancers. The drug is dichloroacetate, and since it is already used to treat metabolic disorders, we know it should be no problem to use it for other purposes.

Doesn’t this sound like the kind of news you see on the front page of every paper?

The drug also has no patent, which means it could be produced for bargain basement prices in comparison to what drug companies research and develop.

Scientists tested DCA on human cells cultured outside the body where it killed lung, breast and brain cancer cells, but left healthy cells alone. Rats plump with tumors shrank when they were fed water supplemented with DCA.

Again, this seems like it should be at the top of the nightly news, right?

Cancer cells don’t use the little power stations found in most human cells - the mitochondria. Instead, they use glycolysis, which is less effective and more wasteful.

Doctors have long believed the reason for this is because the mitochondria were damaged somehow. But, it turns out the mitochondria were just dormant, and DCA starts them back up again.

The side effect of this is it also reactivates a process called apoptosis. You see, mitochondria contain an all-too-important self-destruct button that can’t be pressed in cancer cells. Without it, tumors grow larger as cells refuse to be extinguished. Fully functioning mitochondria, thanks to DCA, can once again die.

With glycolysis turned off, the body produces less lactic acid, so the bad tissue around cancer cells doesn’t break down and seed new tumors.

Here’s the big catch. Pharmaceutical companies probably won’t invest in research into DCA because they won’t profit from it. It’s easy to make, unpatented and could be added to drinking water. Imagine, Gatorade with cancer control.

So, the groundwork will have to be done at universities and independently funded laboratories. But, how are they supposed to drum up support if the media aren’t even talking about it?

All I can do is write this and hope Google News picks it up. In the meantime, tell everyone you know and do your own research.

This is a column of opinion written by Printz Executive Editor David McRaney. Comments can be sent to printz@usm.edu

—————————————————————–
© Copyright 2007 Student Printz
Tim Shumbera
Biltmore Press, Inc.

Just sign the petition here...

( ...or you can read all of the shit from the email. )

I want to thank those of you that have bought Segue already, it is greatly appreciated. If you haven't picked it up yet, head over to the Destructible Heart Press store and pick it up. While you're at it, pick up Adam Rubinstein's Freshwater Dredge, Shira Erlichman's Advertisement For a Human Being, Paul Gagnon's I have met the god of fire and she is a little girl, whispering, Matthew John Conley's The Soft Hells, or anything else that catches your eyes. Each book is a paltry $10, you can pay via credit card, check card with a credit card logo, or PayPal. If those won't work, send an email over to orders [at] destructibleheart.com and see what can be worked out.

Again, many thanks to those of you that have already purchased it. It means more than you know.

(this was lifted from chameleonsdream, via radioactiveart)

Please help spread the word on this, people. Feel free to forward it to any poet mailing lists that you frequent.

GotPoetry is seeking submissions for a chapbook length book of poetry about violence, survival and hope. The book, Beth's Legacy, will be published in memory of Elizabeth Spence Cann of Norton, MA, who was murdered by her ex-boyfriend, and all proceeds will benefit Brittney and Danielle Cann, her daughters, who were critically injured in the attack that killed their mother.

Beth's Legacy

On the morning of August 27, 2007, Elizabeth Spence Cann was found shot to death in her own bed. Two of her daughters, 12 year old Brittney and 15 year old Danielle, were found on the floor of the hallway leading into her room. Both girls had been shot in the head and left for dead. The shooter, Beth's estranged boyfriend, took his own life early that morning.

By some miracle, both Danielle and Brittney survived the senseless attack, but both face a long, long road to recovery. A third daughter, their oldest sister Amanda, was not home at the time. She faces a future of questions and grief.

The girls are a part of GotPoetry's extended family. Beth was the niece of GotPoetry staffer Deb Powers, and deeply loved cousin of regular member and contributor Cara Powers (crlpr11). In the week that followed the shooting, the GotPoetry community reacted to the news with an outpouring of sympathy, love and support for which the family is extremely grateful. Many also privately asked if there was something more, something tangible, that they could do to show their support for the family and the injured girls. There is.

GotPoetry is seeking submissions of poetry for a chapbook length anthology to be called Beth's Legacy. We're especially seeking poems that speak to surviving loss, recovering from violence and ending domestic abuse. There is no restriction on form or length. All styles of poetry are welcome, though poems of less than 60 lines will be more likely to be accepted.

The selection committee for Beth's Legacy will include the staff of GotPoetry and representatives of Beth Cann's family. The finished book will be available for purchase through GotPoetry and a variety of other outlets, with all proceeds from the sale contributed to the Cann Family Hope Fund set up for the support and aid of Brittney and Danielle by Beth's church in Norton, MA.

Deadline for submissions is September 30, 2007.
Submit up to three poems for consideration in the body of an email to:
bethslegacy@onlythebest.info by September 30.

Please submit only original poetry to which you hold the copyright.
Because the book is a fund raiser, we can not pay for the poems accepted, but we will make the book available for download to any poet whose work appears in Beth's Legacy. Your submission to Beth's Legacy grants to us one-time print publication rights to your submitted work. You retain all other rights to your work.

If you would like to make a donation directly to the fund, you can do that by sending your donation to:

Danielle and Brittany Cann Hope Fund
Bank of America
574 Foundry Street
South Easton, MA 02375

We'll also take all the prayers, wishes and good thoughts that you can spare. The girls will need all that they can get. Thank you.

Segue, the debut poetry chapbook by yours truly, is now available for preorder from Destructible Heart Press for the sexy low price of $10!

http://pol.moveon.org/stoppricegouging/

Dear MoveOn member,

As of yesterday, gas prices are the highest in U.S. history—we just passed the 1981 record, even adjusted for inflation. (1) Prices could reach $4.00 per gallon in parts of the country, just in time to crimp summer vacation plans. As consumers suffer, the oil industry continues to reap the windfall—breaking profit records on an almost quarterly basis. It's outrageous!

Enough is enough. Hearings start today on H.R. 1252, a House bill that would make gas price gouging a federal crime, punishable by 10 years in prison. Speaker Pelosi has said she'll move the bill to a vote this week—if there's the two-thirds majority required to fast track the bill through the process. (2)

Oil company lobbyists are frantically trying to stop the bill. Your representative needs to hear from you today. Will you sign our petition asking Congress to pass the price-gouging bill—and then send it to your friends?

"Gasoline price gouging should be made a federal crime before the summer price increases hurt more American families."

Rep Bart Stupak (D-MI), sponsor of the House bill said this of his motivation to introduce the legislation:

"In April ... crude oil was $7 a barrel cheaper than last year (but) gas prices were almost 50 cents a gallon higher. Clearly there's more at play than simply the world crude oil market." (3)

In April, more than two-thirds of Americans reported that their gas bills were causing financial crunches, with a full third saying it was having a "serious" impact on their families. (4)

That same month, the top two US companies, Exxon-Mobil and Chevron-Texaco, announced a combined $14 billion in first quarter profits. (5)

It seems like even the oil industry has gone too far this time, and it's time to balance the scales. The Senate passed a price-gouging measure out of committee last week, and the House bill now has over 100 co-sponsors from both sides of the aisle.

The oil industry is nervous. They've sent their lobbyists to the Hill in full force to stop—or at least weaken—these bills, and they're pulling out all the stops. The American Petroleum Institute, an industry front group of more than 400 oil and gas companies, even threatened that new laws could increase gas prices more. (6)

Enough is enough. This summer, we can stop Big Oil from profiting at the expense of American families. Can you sign the petition to ask your representative to make gasoline a price gouging a federal crime now?

Don't forget to pass it on to your friends—this week is an historic opportunity to send Big Oil a message that we've had enough.

Thanks for all you do.

–Ilyse, Natalie, Eli, Tom, and the MoveOn.org Political Action Team
Tuesday, May 22nd, 2007

http://pol.moveon.org/stoppricegouging/

( Sources )

Postal regulators have accepted a proposal from media giant Time Warner that would stifle small and independent publishers in America. The plan unfairly burdens smaller publishers with higher postage rates while locking in special privileges for bigger media companies.

In establishing the U.S. postal system, the nation's founders wanted to ensure that a diversity of viewpoints were available to "the whole mass of the people." Time Warner's rate increase reverses this egalitarian ideal and threatens the marketplace of ideas on which our democracy depends.

It's time stand up for independent media. Demand that Congress step in to stop the unfair rate hikes. The deadline for comments to the Postal Service is fast approaching.

Sign the petition before April 23 to alert Congress and put the Postal Board of Governors on notice.

____________

This is a huge issue for small presses in America. The USPS is planning to hike up media rates 30 percent for small publishers, but under 10 percent for major conglomerate publishers. This was proposed by Time Warner and could go into effect as soon as April 23rd. It will kill many small presses, whose largest expenses are often shipping. This will be bad for everyone who works in or consumes media...which means everyone. Sign the petition, spread the word, contact you representatives in Washington. Thanks.



(shamelessly stolen from timiathan.)