Saturday, April 30, 2011

Friday, April 29, 2011

Take action to protect drinking water

Dear Friend,

I just took action and I hope you can too. The natural gas industry wants to use the dangerous practice of hydraulic fracturing (fracking) in the Delaware River Basin, threatening an area that provides drinking water for 15 million people. The Obama Administration can influence the decision. Will you join me in asking the President to protect our drinking water from risky natural gas drilling?

Take action here: http://action.foodandwaterwatch.org/p/dia/action/public/?action_KEY=6629

Tell Facebook: Don't censor the Internet

Friends-

BREAKING NEWS: A range of Facebook users, from political dissidents to technology bloggers, are reporting the sudden blocking of their pages. Facebook provided no prior warning, nor was there a clear process established to restore access to the blocked pages. Tell Facebook to start respecting civil liberties. Just click here:

http://act.demandprogress.org/sign/facebook_political/?referring_akid=570.459...

More than 50 blocked pages were political in nature, and several users have had their pages maliciously blocked through fraudulent claims of intellectual property violations.

This news follows Facebook's recent assertions that it's willing to work with government censors in places like China, and that the company is worried that it sometimes provides "too much" free speech.

Astounding. And this disregard for civil liberties is nothing new: Facebook has consistently dodged hard questions about free speech. Last year they refused to attend a U.S. Senate hearing on "global Internet freedom" and the company won't join the tech industry's Global Network Initiative, which promotes human rights and free speech. Will you demand that Facebook start respecting civil liberties? Just click here:

http://act.demandprogress.org/sign/facebook_political/?referring_akid=570.459...

Thanks!

Tuesday, April 26, 2011

Top News: Secret Memos Prove Iraq War for Oil, Secret Guantanamo Files Leaked

via Fred Burks's feed by Fred Burks, US Intelligence Examiner on 4/25/11

Fred BurksBelow are key excerpts of important news articles which include revealing information on secret UK memos proving the Iraq war was launched to control oil resources, expansion of US drone attacks to Libya, Wikileaks' release of secret...April 26, 2011

Tuesday, April 19, 2011

Join me in thanking President Obama

The Bush-Cheney tax cuts for the rich are still with us, and they are still wrong, plain and simple.

President Obama was right to speak of them in no uncertain terms during his speech at George Washington University on April 13, pledging:

"I refuse to renew them again."

Please join Sen. Patrick Leahy and me in thanking President Obama for making the bold, unequivocal pledge to the American people and Republicans in Congress.

To take action on this issue, click on the link below:
http://leahy.convio.net/site/Advocacy?s_oo=cd2HsSoAICjiLA7dN7dvRA..&id=175 If the text above does not appear as a link or it wraps across multiple lines, then copy and paste it into the address area of your browser.
If you no longer wish to receive email messages sent from your friends on behalf of this organization, please follow the link below:
http://leahy.convio.net/site/TellFriendOpt?action=optout&toe=97d2db6729d532fc...

Saturday, April 16, 2011

Stop Blacking Out Progressive Protests

Thousands marched against war in New York City on April 9. Two thousand protested the Koch brothers in Washington, D.C. Neither event was covered by major media. A sparsely attended Tea Party rally just a few days earlier, though, was big news. Join me in signing FAIR's petition to call on news media to explain the journalistic principle that makes thousands of progressive activists far less newsworthy than dozens of Tea Party protesters.

Tuesday, April 12, 2011

295 jurists criticize Manning Private prison treatment

via ELPAIS.com - Sección Internacional by DAVID ALANDETE on 4/11/11

El trato del Pentágono al soldado Bradley Manning, detenido y acusado de sustraer cables clasificados de redes informáticas militares que posteriormente publicó Wikileaks, es degradante e inhumano y se puede equiparar a tortura, según 295 abogados y profesores de derecho de las instituciones académicas más prestigiosas de EE UU.

Monday, April 11, 2011

Why so secret?

Hey,

I just signed a petition telling Quantico and the Pentagon to allow official visits for accused Wikileaks whistleblower Pfc Bradley Manning.

Please join me in signing this important petition, and pass it on to your friends and family when you're done:

http://action.firedoglake.com/page/s/manning_visits?source=share&subsource=email

Thanks!

---BEGIN FORWARDED MESSAGE---

Hey Firedoglake Activist,

The isolation of Bradley Manning just took a turn for the worse. Now Quantico Marine Base and the government are breaking their own rules to deny visits to Bradley Manning.

Government officials and Quantico Marine Base have just declared that Congressman Dennis Kucinich and the UN Special Rapporteur on Torture - who have tried to visit Manning for months - would not be considered to be on "official government business." That means brig authorities could monitor their conversations and possibly use them against Manning in court.

We need to appeal this decision to the leadership at Quantico and the Pentagon, including Defense Secretary Robert Gates, Quantico Base Commander Colonel Daniel J. Choike, and Brig Commander CWO Denise Barnes. If enough of us call out this wrongheaded decision, we can generate pressure in the media to allow official visits with Bradley Manning.

Sign our letter to Quantico and Pentagon leaders: follow your own rules and allow official visits to PFC. Bradley Manning. Click here to add your name.

http://action.firedoglake.com/page/s/manning_visits?source=share&subsource=email

What do Quantico and the Pentagon have to hide? Are they afraid of what Bradley Manning might say about his treatment when the brig cameras are turned off?

For 9 months and counting, Bradley Manning has faced almost complete solitary confinement. He is still forced to strip nude nightly. He is still in maximum custody with an unnecessary "Prevention of Injury" order - far beyond that of any other detainee. He is still cut off from appropriate exercise and other rights afforded prisoners at the brig.

When confronted about Manning's harsh treatment, President Obama said the Pentagon had reassured him that Manning's confinement met "basic standards." If Manning's conditions meets our "basic standards," then why is the government going to such great lengths to keep him from meeting with official visitors?

Call out the hypocrisy of denying Bradley Manning official visitors. Sign our letter protesting the decision to block unmonitored visits to Bradley Manning.

http://action.firedoglake.com/page/s/manning_visits?source=share&subsource=email

The decision to block official visits to Bradley Manning isn't just ludicrous. It's against the rules. Marine rules clearly state that people "conducting official government business, either on behalf of the prisoner or in the interest of justice," can be allowed "official visits" not subject to monitoring by the brig. That explicitly includes Members of Congress like Rep. Kucinich.

Rep. Kucinich, a member of the House Oversight Committee, has been trying to visit Manning in prison for more than two months. The Congressman repeatedly wrote to Secretary Gates and other military officials requesting a visit to investigate the allegations of torture-like conditions to which Manning has been subjected. And the UN Special Rapporteur on Torture has opened an official investigation into PFC. Manning's conditions.

If it seems like a stretch to say that a member of the US Congressional Oversight Committee and the United Nations visiting a military prisoner alleging abuse does not constitute 'official government business,' that's because it is. This is one big game of semantics, with the ultimate goal being to keep the public from hearing the truth about Manning's confinement.

The secrecy has to stop. Sign our petition to Secretary Gates and Commanders Choike and Barnes to stop obstructing and allow official visits to Manning.

http://action.firedoglake.com/page/s/manning_visits?source=share&subsource=email

With your help, we will make sure there is nothing secret about the way the US Government is treating Bradley Manning.

Thanks for all you do.

Michael Whitney,
Firedoglake.com

Saturday, April 9, 2011

As a reminder, GNU-Darwin.org is temporarily going down soon as part of a planned outage. The duration is several hours.

As a reminder, GNU-Darwin.org is temporarily going down soon as part of a planned outage. The duration is several hours.

Wednesday, April 6, 2011

GNU-Darwin planned outage

There is a planned outage this Saturday at 11 pm EDT. It is expected to last several hours.

Regards,
proclus
http://www.gnu-darwin.org/