Anonymous Comrade writes:
(castillano abajo)


        For years, when a community has seen danger approach, they have used fire to call for the aid of their peers as they prepare to resist the enemy. When a beacon was lit on a hilltop, the message travelled far and fast and aid would soon follow. Now, as the G8 leaders approach Gleneagles, the people of Scotland are preparing to light Beacons of Dissent.

Robert S. Finnegan writes
Ft. Stewart Command Quickly Rubber-Stamps Disapproval


Robert S. Finnegan

Southeast Asia News

Yesterday at Ft. Stewart Georgia, U.S. Army Sergeant Kevin Benderman was dealt a setback in his battle with the U.S. Army when his application for Conscientious Objector status was denied by his command.

Benderman applied for CO status after having already served one combat tour in Iraq during which his Captain ordered personnel in the unit to fire on Iraqi children throwing rocks. This was one of many incidents during his deployment that Benderman said convinced him that war is immoral and it is his duty to refuse to kill.

jeff sommers writes:

Obituary For An ATOL Contributor

Andre Gunder Frank (1929–2005)

Jeff Sommers, Asia Times OnLine

Editor's note: In January this year, Andre Gunder Frank submitted to Asia Times Online a lively and insightful two-part report on the dwindling economic influence of the United States under neo-conservative excesses. It was published under the title The Naked Hegemon, and was an immediate hit with our readers. They — and we — yearned for more, but tragically Frank's long battle with cancer was taking its toll, and a long-term acquaintance between him and ATol was not to be.

Among academic activists I know, the two names most frequently cited for inspiring us to pursue our work are Noam Chomsky and Andre Gunder Frank. Last weekend we lost one them — Andre Gunder Frank. Gunder must have put literally thousands on that path, who in turn reached perhaps millions of students in some fashion.

UNITE HERE Local 100 writes:
On February 1, 2005, Cablevision cut off union health insurance for over two hundred Madison Square Garden workers and their families. This is part of Cablevision's attempt to force these workers to agree to changes in their contract that would cut work opportunities, health insurance and pension benefits for many employees. Many workers at Madison Square Garden already earn less than $10 an hour.

Three days after Cablevision cut off union health insurance for its employees at Madison Square Garden, it made a $600 million bid to develop the West Side rail yard.

alavio writes:
Another Attack on Zanon Occupied Factory

By Grupo Alavío
http://www.indymedia.org/es/2005/04/114907.shtml

The workers of Zanon and other social organizations mobilized in front of the central courthouse on April 21 to defend their factory against mounting attacks. At a moment when the courts and government must make a “political and legal decision” concerning the ceramics factory that has been producing under worker control since 2001 – legal attacks, death threats and physical attacks against the workers have increased.

Anonymous Comrade writes:
The Legacy of Kent and Jackson State

MAY 4 marks the 35th anniversary of the shootings of four students at Kent State University by the Ohio National Guard.

The mass movements of the 1960s had exploded internationally two years before, in 1968—culminating in the student revolt and workers’ general strike in France in May-June 1968, and the antiwar demonstration and police riot at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago in August.

Andre Gunder Frank, 1929-2005

Pat Manning, World History Network

Andre Gunder Frank died peacefully at 8:30 a.m. on April 23, 2005 in Luxembourg, in the presence of his loved ones, after a long and brave struggle against cancer and its complications. He was a brilliant and highly productive analyst of political economy and related social sciences who produced fundamental insights on global social interactions, from the 1950s until his death, and whose analysis was always connected to campaigns for social justice. He was a founding figure in the current expansion of studies in world history, and his 1998 book, ReOrient, won the World History Association's book prize.

A Week Against the Intellectual Property industries


The international boycott of the media industry begins tomorrow April 24th and continues until the 30th. The event is being promoted by p2p software developers and their business interests (who have borne the brunt of the industry assault) but supported by many consumer and user groups.

"Mourning Marla"
Jill Carroll, Christian Science Monitor, April 18, 2005.

Intrepid humanitarian aid worker Marla Ruzicka died in Baghdad Saturday when her car was caught in an insurgent attack.

Californian Marla Ruzicka was the head of an NGO whose blend of tenacity and optimism kept her in Iraq long after almost every other humanitarian aid organization had left.

Marla and her Iraqi driver died Saturday when their car was tragically caught between a suicide car bomber and a US military convoy.

Critical Art Ensemble Auction Raises $167,000

U.S. Government Intensifies Investigation

On Sunday April 17, an art auction to benefit the CAE Defense Fund
raised $167,700. The auction, held at Paula Cooper Gallery in New York
City, featured over fifty artists who donated their work to the cause.

The amount raised was over three times more than had been raised (and
spent) in the eleven months preceding the auction. Still, two to three
times as much may be needed to successfully defend Steve Kurtz, a
founding member of Critical Art Ensemble (CAE) and Professor of Art at
the University of Buffalo, and Robert Ferrell, a Professor of Human
Genetics at the University of Pittsburgh, throughout the entire trial
process.