Two Eclipse Visual Poems

ACLU: Subverting the Constitution, Swearing in Pennsylvania, and More

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From: ACLU Online <ACLUOnline@aclu.org>
Date: Fri, Jan 7, 2011 at 3:10 PM
Subject: Subverting the Constitution, Swearing in Pennsylvania, and More
To: david.chirot@gmail.com

Unconstitutional Bill Aims to Subvert 14th Amendment State Legislators Considering Unconstitutional and Un-American Immigration Laws What Do These Three Things Have in Common? Government Should Investigate Denials of Emergency Care at Religiously-Affiliated Hospitals Thanks for the Shout Out, Mr. Vice President! It's Your Move, Congress: Stand Up for Net Neutrality Thanks for the Shout Out, Mr. Vice President! Earlier this week, when swearing-in newly-seated Senator Rand Paul, Vice President Biden, who serves as President of the Senate, said, "I never get along with any interest groups in the United States Senate. The only one that I really respect, and I don't agree with them most of the time, is the ACLU. Because they never, never vary. They have principles." We certainly appreciate the shout out from Vice President Biden. He understands what the ACLU has always been about at our core: we are committed to preserving and defending the Constitution and the Bill of Rights and ensuring that our rights and liberties are afforded to all, regardless of background or political belief. These principles have guided us well as an organization for over 90 years — and our country for over 200 years. We are proud of being the nation's foremost advocate for the rights of all, and we appreciate the Vice President's respectful acknowledgement of our work. back to top It's Your Move, Congress: Stand Up for Net Neutrality Late last month, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) passed a new rule clarifying the FCC's legal authority to enforce network neutrality principles. Network neutrality, also known as "net neutrality," principles protect free speech online by prohibiting the owner of a network from prioritizing some types of content on the Internet while slowing down others. First, the good news: the new rule prohibits wired broadband owners — usually telecom companies like Comcast and Verizon that provide cable and DSL service to homes and offices — from discriminating against information by throttling, slowing or otherwise tampering with the transfer of any data on the wired Internet. Now, the bad news, and it's pretty bad: the rule is on shaky legal footing and it doesn't apply to wireless Internet — the kind you access on your cell phone. The legal question is particularly frustrating. After the D.C. Circuit rejected the FCC's last efforts to establish open internet rules — largely because of questions over FCC authority — the ACLU and many other groups argued that broadband providers offer a telecommunications service and should therefore be regulated like telephone companies. Such a change would provide robust protections. Sadly, the FCC bowed to industry pressure and refused to adopt this change. "By creating two sets of regulations — one for the wired Internet and one for wireless broadband — and failing to ground them in the strongest legal protections available, the FCC has failed to protect free speech and Internet openness for all users," said Chris Calabrese, ACLU Legislative Counsel. "The ACLU will continue to fight for full network neutrality protections. Internet openness is key to protecting our First Amendment rights." Now that the FCC has voted, this issue is in Congress's hands. >> Take action! Tell your members of Congress we need strong net neutrality protections for the entire Internet, not just the wired one. back to top Do you know somebody who would be interested in getting news about the ACLU and what we're doing to protect civil liberties? Help us spread the word about ACLU Online — forward this newsletter to a friend. January 7, 2011 Unconstitutional Bill Aims to Subvert 14th Amendment Ask your representative to reject attacks on the 14th Amendment. On Wednesday, a day before members of Congress recited the Constitution on the House floor and affirmed their commitment to defend and uphold it, an unconstitutional bill designed to subvert the citizenship clause of the 14th Amendment was introduced. The bill introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives by Rep. Steve King (R-IA), attempts to subvert the 14th Amendment by rewriting the citizenship clause to restrict citizenship to only three categories of people: children of U.S. citizens or nationals, children of permanent residents and children of non-citizens in active-duty military service. The proposed legislation violates the constitutional guarantee that all people born in the U.S. and under its jurisdiction are U.S. citizens entitled to equal protection under the law. Further, it would violate long-established Supreme Court precedent. In addition, this radical proposal would deny citizenship to large segments of U.S. society including U.S.-born children to parents with lawful status such as refugees, foreign investors, scientists, engineers, artists, athletes, scholars and graduate students. Also on Wednesday, a group of state legislators announced that they will introduce bills intended to deny Americans the fundamental protections of the 14th Amendment by requiring their states to deny standard birth certificates to many U.S. citizen babies born in the U.S. to immigrant parents. "Citizenship for all born on U.S. soil has been one of the Constitution's most essential engines of equality and fairness under the law," said Laura W. Murphy, Director of the ACLU Washington Legislative Office. "It is too important to be defined by the political whims of any era." Since its creation, the Constitution has guaranteed U.S. citizenship to every child born in the U.S., with very limited exceptions. Constitutional citizenship represents America's commitment to equality, fairness and justice under the law. Adopted in the aftermath of the Civil War, the 14th Amendment negated one of the Supreme Court's most infamous rulings, the Dred Scott decision of 1857, which held that neither freed slaves nor their descendants could ever become citizens. The Amendment, which guaranteed the constitutional rights of citizenship for all who were born in this country was enacted in response to laws passed by the former Confederate States that prevented African Americans from entering professions, owning or leasing land, accessing public accommodations, serving on juries and voting. In 1898, the U.S. Supreme Court addressed the guarantee of the 14th Amendment and affirmed the fundamental principle that children born on American soil are U.S. citizens without regard to their parents' status. In United States v. Wong Kim Ark, the Court held that a baby born in San Francisco to Chinese parents who were subjects of China and were prohibited by law from becoming U.S. citizens was a citizen at birth under the 14th Amendment. This principle has been the settled law of the land for more than a century. >> Take action! Ask your representative to reject attacks on the 14th Amendment. >> Learn more about the ACLU's efforts to defend citizenship under the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. back to top State Legislators Considering Unconstitutional and Un-American Immigration Laws Tell your governor: What happens in Arizona stops in Arizona! Several state legislators around the country are considering proposing anti-immigrant legislation in the coming session, according to an article in The New York Times last week. In some states, the legislation would be similar to the recent Arizona racial profiling law, even though the worst provisions of that law have been suspended by a federal court. The ACLU, which brought a lawsuit challenging Arizona's racial profiling law, called on state legislators to reject the bills when they are introduced. "Laws like Arizona's that cause racial profiling or deny other basic rights are unconstitutional, unfair and quintessentially un-American," said Laura W. Murphy, Director of the ACLU's Washington Legislative Office. "The courts were correct to reject Arizona's draconian legislation, and other states should think twice before attempting to pass similar laws that have no place in an America that believes in fairness, equality and human rights. The ACLU will fight these misguided attempts across the country to upend our most fundamental American values." >> Take action! Tell your governor that you won't tolerate unconstitutional racial profiling in your state or anywhere in the United States. back to top What Do These Three Things Have in Common? Swearing at the clogged toilet in your home Flipping off a police officer in a dispute over a parking space Yelling "asshole" at a motorcyclist who swerves close to you They could get you cited for disorderly conduct in Pennsylvania. Or even worse, thrown in jail — until now. The ACLU of Pennsylvania successfully defended about a dozen individuals against these kinds of charges — and won. This week, the Pennsylvania State Police (PSP) agreed to stop citing individuals for disorderly conduct for the use of profanity. Additionally, PSP will provide mandatory training to its officers about free speech. According to information obtained by the ACLU through a Right to Know request, the PSP issued more than 750 disorderly conduct citations for profanity in a recent one-year period. "Besides being a waste of police resources, these types of citations are often used by police to 'punish' people who argue with them. We are very happy the state police will proactively address this problem," said Mary Catherine Roper, senior staff attorney for the ACLU of Pennsylvania. back to top Government Should Investigate Denials of Emergency Care at Religiously-Affiliated Hospitals Tell Secretary Sebelius to stop religiously-affiliated hospitals from putting women's lives at risk. The ACLU has asked the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) to investigate potential denials and delays of emergency abortion care at religiously-affiliated hospitals in violation of federal law, specifically the Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act and the Conditions of Participation of Medicare and Medicaid. The request followed the decision by St. Joseph's Hospital in Phoenix to continue providing life-saving abortions when necessary despite pressure from the Catholic Diocese of Phoenix to discontinue the practice. The Bishop of Phoenix stripped the hospital of his endorsement when St. Joseph's correctly defended its decision to provide a life-saving abortion to a young mother of four in need of emergency care last year and asserted that it would continue to provide life-saving services. "The hospital did the right thing by upholding its obligations to provide necessary health care, but this incident just underscores the need for the government to make crystal clear that hospitals — regardless of religious affiliation — must provide necessary life-saving care to patients," said Alexa Kolbi-Molinas, staff attorney with the ACLU Reproductive Freedom Project. "A hospital's first duty is to its patients. No woman should ever have to be afraid that she will not receive the care she needs when she goes to a hospital." A 2008 article in the American Journal of Public Health highlighted a worrying pattern of religiously-affiliated hospitals denying emergency reproductive care to patients. The article cites instances in which miscarrying women were forced to travel to another facility after religiously-affiliated hospitals refused to terminate their pregnancies — and a woman who was denied care until the moment her fetus' heartbeat stopped, placing her in grave peril. "Religiously-affiliated hospitals are not exempt from federal law that requires them to provide emergency care to their patients," said Vania Leveille, ACLU Legislative Counsel. "The government must ensure that all hospitals that receive federal funding are in compliance with the law." >> Take action! Tell Secretary of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius to stop religiously-affiliated hospitals from putting women's lives at risk. back to top Join us on...          American Civil Liberties Union 125 Broad Street, 18th Floor New York, New York 10004-2400 Lisa Sock and Joe McLaughlin, Editors Privacy Statement This mail is never sent unsolicited. You, or someone on your behalf, has subscribed to receive this information from the American Civil Liberties Union. At the ACLU Web site, the ACLU gathers anonymous summary statistics on the responses to our email newsletters in order to better serve list subscribes and ACLU members. To review our Privacy Statement, click here. Click here to forward this message.

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SOA WATCH: Justice Denied

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From: SOA Watch <info@soaw.org>
Date: Thu, Jan 6, 2011 at 10:51 AM
Subject: Justice Denied
To: david.chirot@gmail.com

Justice Denied: Activists Imprisoned, SOA Remains Open Federal Judge sentences SOA Watch activists to six months in prison Once again, the justice system's complicity with the abuses taught at the School of the Americas was exposed yesterday at the trial of anti-militarization activists Nancy Smith and Chris Spicer. Nancy, from New York, changed her plea to no contest and was immediately sentenced to 6 months in prison by Magistrate Judge Stephen Hyles. In the SOA Watch tradition of using the court to put a spotlight on the SOA/WHINSEC, Nancy affirmed that she "felt a strong moral imperative" to carry out her nonviolent act of civil disobedience "on behalf of those who have suffered so terribly". Chris, from Illinois, plead not guilty but was declared guilty by Judge Hyles and sentenced likewise to 6 months. In his closing statement before sentencing, Chris addressed the ongoing human rights abuses in Latin America carried out by graduates of the School of the Americas, and his need to confront the "paralysis of fear" that has gripped the country in recent times. In November, Franciscan priest Fr. Louis Vitale, OFM and David Omondi of the Los Angeles Catholic Worker Community both pled no contest and were sentenced to the maximum 6 months in jail. The decision by Judge Hyles to impose the maximum penalty for a nonviolent act of civil disobedience exposes the political nature of the trials and the justice system. However, we take the energy of Nancy, Christopher, David and Louis, along with the thousands of our brothers and sisters who have been massacred, raped, tortured and disappeared in their fight for a culture of peace with justice, and we will continue to move forward. We hope to see you all in Washington, DC, in April to bring the fight to close the SOA and end US militarism to the doorsteps of our policy makers. The struggle is long, but we will prevail! Nancy Smith gave an interview to Tamar Sharabi following Father Louis' trial in November in front of the courthouse in Georgia: Current Updates on Nancy and Chris: Nancy and Chris have now been transferred to the Irwin County, GA detention center where they will remain until further notice. Nancy can be written at the following address: Nancy H. Smith #7059 Irwin County Detention Center 132 Cotton Drive Ocilla, GA 31774 Chris can be written at the following address: Christopher Spicer #7060 Irwin County Detention Center 132 Cotton Drive Ocilla, GA 31774 Click here for tips about how to write to prisoners of conscience. We are not sure how long they will be there or when they will be transferred. Please be sure to check the webpage for the current addresses of Nancy and Chris. April Action DC In order to successfully combat the repressive foreign policy employed by the US government, we must make our voices heard. Join us in April, when we will converge in DC to resist militarization and promote a culture of peace! Join us in fasting, music, direct action, lobbying congress, the 5th Latin American Solidarity Conference and art among many other things! Follow SOAW on Facebook Síguenos en español en Facebook Follow SOAW on Twitter Your time, energy, and donations make this movement possible. Our work depends on you! We appreciate your interest! You are subscribed to the SOA Watch list as david.chirot@gmail.com. Click here to unsubscribe. Contact us. Our mailing address is: SOA Watch, PO Box 4566, Washington, D.C. 20017, USA Our telephone: (202) 234 3440 Click here to fund the campaign to close the SOA.

Al Jazeera Journalists Publish their Testimonies re attack on the Mavi Maramara

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From: Palestinian Mothers <mail@palestinian.ning.com>
Date: Tue, Dec 28, 2010 at 5:29 AM
Subject: Al Jazeera Journalists Publish their Testimonies
To: "david.chirot@gmail.com" <david.chirot@gmail.com>

Palestinian Mothers Women are 50% of the world and gave birth to the other half, women are the world A message to all members of Palestinian Mothers Al Jazeera Journalists Publish their Testimonies in a Book contradicting the BBC version of the attack on the 'Mavi Marmara'   Read on the main page. Your feedback is highly appreciated.     Visit Palestinian Mothers at: http://palestinian.ning.com/?xg_source=msg_mes_network   To control which emails you receive on Palestinian Mothers, click here

DBChirot sent you a video: "Don Cherry live in the 60's - 1/7"

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DBChirot has shared a video with you on YouTube: Don Cherry live in the 60's - 1/7 Don Cherry live in the 60's // Don Cherry - piano, pocket trumpet, flute, voice, percussion // Johhny Dyani - bass, voice, percussion / Okay Temiz - drums, percussion //
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DBChirot sent you a video: "Don Cherry - Noon in Tunysia 1969"

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DBChirot has shared a video with you on YouTube: Don Cherry - Noon in Tunysia 1969 Noon in Tunisya, 1969 == George Gruntz (p, celesta) Don Cherry (cnt, fl) \ Sahib Shihab (fl, alto fl, sop) Henri Texier (b) \ Daniel Humair (d) / Salah El Mahdi (ney) \ Moktar Slama (zoukra) / Jelloul Osman (mezzuette) / Hattab Jouini (tabla, darbouka, bendire)
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DBChirot sent you a video: "The mystery song - Don Cherry (Featuring Ornette Coleman & Steve Lacy)"

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SOA WATCH: letter from prison

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From: SOA Watch <info@soaw.org>
Date: Sat, Dec 25, 2010 at 10:41 AM
Subject: letter from prison
To: david.chirot@gmail.com

Dear David-baptiste, Hope this email finds you well. We just received the letter below from prison from Father Louis Vitale. Fr. Louis was arrested together with David Omondi, Nancy Smith and Chris Spicer by the Fort Benning military police during the November Vigil when they carried the call to close the SOA onto the military base. Father Louis and David were sentenced immediately to six months in federal prison. Nancy and Chris are currently preparing for their federal trials on January 5, 2011. They will use the courtroom to put the SOA itself on trial. Several others are also still facing charges after having been arrested by the Columbus police following the rally on November 20, 2010. Support the SOA Watch Legal Defense Fund with a contribution today. You'll find addresses to write to the prisoners below. Letter from Father Louis Vitale, SOA Watch Prisoner of Conscience: Two weeks have passed since David Omondi and I began our sojourn here at Irwin County Detention Center in southern Georgia. Some may say, "Vitale has protested himself back into the pokey below the Mason-Dixon line" and "He has been jailed again in an effort to bring peace and social justice." SF Chronicle 11/28 Many ask, "Why do you keep doing this?" We try to respond: "Because the oppression goes on and our nation is a major participant in that oppression of the poor and of all creation." Specifically this manifestation of mourning focuses on the School of the Americas (WHINSEC) at Ft. Benning, Georgia, where U.S. military have taught counter-insurgency techniques, including torture and disappearance, to Latin American military. It still goes on, as recently observed with the outrageous coup in Honduras carried out by graduates of the School of the Americas. In fact, our involvement in oppressive militarism extends throughout the world! But why so many times at Ft. Benning (my fourth arrest and incarceration, and so far from my home base)? The School of the Americas is an icon of our intrusion into developing countries over many years and the source of horrific massacres including religious leaders and thousands of peasants. Also Ft. Benning is a major military base feeding vast numbers into the war machine. Thousands gather annually to mourn the victims and to call for an end to our war machine that continues to grow into more bases, nuclear weapons manufacturing facilities, even into space war (and the new X-37B militarized version of the space shuttle). Are we ready to declare peace and act in its presence? Let's call - with all our energy - for nonviolent solutions now, transforming many peoples' lives and our world. Our work is cut out for us as we must be vigilant and active with nonviolent resistance. May we move towards peace in the new year. [Louie, serving a 6 month sentence for trespass at Ft. Benning, was moved from the Irwin County Detention Center on December 15, and is currently in transit. We will let you know as soon as he reaches his final destination.] Write the the Prisoners of Conscience To write to Louis, please direct correspondence to: Fr. Louis Vitale, c/o The Nuclear Resister, P.O. Box 43383, Tucson, AZ 85733 To write to Michael David Omondi, also sentenced to six months for trespass at Ft. Benning, please direct your correspondence to: David Omondi, c/o The Los Angeles Catholic Worker, 632 N. Brittania St., Los Angeles, CA 90033 If you'd like to make a tax-deductible donation of $100 or more, please write a check to "SOA Watch Educational Fund" and mail it to: SOA Watch, PO Box 4566, Washington, DC 20017.

We appreciate your interest! You are subscribed to the SOA Watch list as david.chirot@gmail.com. Click here to unsubscribe or change your subscription. Contact us. Our mailing address is: SOA Watch, PO Box 4566, Washington, D.C. 20017, USA Our telephone: (202) 234 3440 Click here to fund the campaign to close the SOA.

MoMA and Cinecitta Luce celebrate Bernardo Bertolucci with a complete career retrospective

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From: e-Flux <info@mailer.e-flux.com>
Date: Fri, Dec 24, 2010 at 1:39 PM
Subject: MoMA and Cinecitta Luce celebrate Bernardo Bertolucci with a complete career retrospective
To: david.chirot@gmail.com

December 24, 2010

	The Museum of Modern Art, New York "Last Tango in Paris," 1972. France/Italy. Directed by Bernardo Bertolucci.
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	Bernardo Bertolucci The Roy and Niuta Titus Theaters 1 & 2 December 15, 2010 – January 12, 2011 The Museum of Modern Art, New York MoMA AND CINECITTÀ LUCE CELEBRATE LEGENDARY DIRECTOR BERNARDO BERTOLUCCI WITH A COMPLETE CAREER RETROSPECTIVE This comprehensive 20-film survey, presented in collaboration with Cinecittà Luce, Rome, celebrates the work of Bernardo Bertolucci, one of the great living practitioners of the art of cinema. All of the prints in this series are newly remastered by Cinecittà Luce, with sound and color correction overseen by several of the cinematographers who have worked with the director, including Vittorio Storaro, Darius Khondji, and Fabio Cianchetti. Featured screenings include The Conformist (1970)—a film that has deeply influenced American filmmakers as diverse as Martin Scorsese and Steven Spielberg—and a rare presentation of Bertolucci's documentary Oil (La via del petrolio) (1967), a major rediscovery at the 2007 Venice Film Festival. At the age of 21, Bernardo Bertolucci debuted at the Venice Film Festival with his first film, La commare secca (The Grim Reaper) (1962); he has since gone on to earn every award and accolade to which a filmmaker can aspire. Tirelessly experimental in form and content, his films have enjoyed both popular and critical acclaim. Renowned for pushing the boundaries and creating works for adventurous audiences, his oeuvre also contains its share of popular blockbusters, including The Last Emperor (1987), which garnered nine Oscars, including Best Picture and Best Director. Watching the films in this series together, one witnesses Bertolucci's development as an artist, from grappling with the influence of cinematic trends and filmmaking icons to developing and refining his own voice, and ultimately becoming an enormously influential auteur who creates films of beauty and consequence. This complete retrospective also includes such revered films as Ultimo tango a Parigi (Last Tango in Paris) (1972), starring Marlon Brando and Maria Schneider; Novecento (1900) (1976) with Robert De Niro, Gérard Depardieu, and Donald Sutherland; The Sheltering Sky (1990) with Debra Winger, John Malkovich, and Campbell Scott; Little Buddha (1993) with Keanu Reeves, Bridget Fonda, and Chris Isaak; Stealing Beauty (1996), with Liv Tyler, Sinéad Cusack, and Jeremy Irons; and The Dreamers (2003), with Michael Pitt, Eva Green, and Louis Garrel. A full screening schedule is available at MoMA.org/film. The exhibition is co-produced by the Department of Film of The Museum of Modern Art and Cinecittà Luce, Rome. It is organized by Jytte Jensen, Curator, Department of Film; Camilla Cormanni and Paola Ruggiero, Cinecittà Luce; and Alessandra Bracaglia. Bernardo Bertolucci is supported by the Cinema Department of the Italian Ministry of Culture and by eni, a major integrated energy company committed to valuing people, environment, and integrity. Special thanks to Alitalia and the Italian Cultural Institute of New York. THE MUSEUM OF MODERN ART 11 West 53 Street New York, NY 10019 (212) 708-9400 MoMA.org
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