Upcoming Events and Actions

4/8: Statewide Conference Call to Abolish Corporate Personhood
4/10: Corporate Personhood and Campaign Financing, Wooster
4/12: Citizens United v. FCC: Panel Discussion on Corporate Personhood, Columbus
4/17: Corporations and Democracy: The Citizens United Decision, Chagrin Falls


Statewide Conference Call to Abolish Corporate Personhood

Thursday, April 8, 8 PM – 9 PM
Call in #: 1-218-862-7200
Access Code: 744213

We’ll continue discussing and strategizing ways to respond to the Citizens United vs FEC Supreme Court decision.

Agenda items for call? Email gcoleridge@afsc.org

Corporate Personhood and Campaign Financing

A "Lunch and Learn" with Greg Coleridge of Akron Americans Friends Service Committee, who will facilitate this workshop. It will take place Saturday, April 10, 2010, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at Unitarian Universalist Fellowship in Wooster.

Fine luncheon $12 per person
Includes ~ Carnivore – Vegetarian – Vegan Choices
Unitarian Universalist Fellowship 3186 Burbank Rd. Wooster OH.

SEATING LIMITED Call NOW to reserve your seat 330-749-5112

Flyer at http://www.wayneprogressives.org/pdfs/corporate-personhood.pdf


Citizens United v. FCC: Panel Discussion on Corporate Personhood

A panel discussion will examine both the legal and social implications of the recent Supreme Court decision in Citizens United v. FCC, which extended the meaning of free political speech to corporate expenditures in federal elections and thus granted broad First Amendment rights to corporations under the corporate personhood doctrine. The discussion, sponsored by the Kirwan Institute for the Study of Race and Ethnicity, will be held on Monday, April 12, at 6 p.m., in Saxbe Auditorium at The Ohio State University Moritz College of Law, 55 West 12th Avenue.

The Fourteenth Amendment weighs heavily in the origins of corporate personhood cases on which Citizens United depends, though the amendment’s original purpose was to grant slaves the status of “person.” Discussion will explore what the Citizens United decision means for social and racial justice, and the history of the Court and corporate rights.

Speakers will include john a. powell, executive director of the Kirwan Institute and Gregory H. Williams Chair in Civil Rights and Civil Liberties at the Moritz College of Law; Greg Coleridge, director of the Northeast Ohio American Friends Service Committee; and Cliff Arnebeck, chair of the Legal Affairs Committee of Common Cause Ohio and national co-chair and attorney for The Alliance for Democracy.

This event is free and open to the public.

The Kirwan Institute for the Study of Race and Ethnicity was established in 2003 as a center for interdisciplinary research at The Ohio State University. The Kirwan Institute partners with people, communities, and institutions worldwide to think about, talk about, and act on race in ways that create and expand opportunity for all. For more information about the Kirwan Institute, go to: http://kirwaninstitute.org/.

Flyer at http://www.afsc.net/PDFFiles/CitizensUnitedFlyer-final.pdf


Corporations' perversion of civil rights law - Interested in writing about it for Race-Talk?

The 2010 Supreme Court decision Citizens United v. FCC was just another manifestation of a perversion of civil rights law since the Reconstruction amendments after the Civil War. Originally intended to protect newly freed slaves from virulent white racism, the 14th Amendment’s protections were quickly usurped, not by other people, but by American corporations. Indeed, of all the 14th Amendment cases between 1890 and 1910, 19 were filed by individuals seeking protection and 288 were filed by businesses.

Importantly, the expansion of corporate rights made possible by this perversion of the 14th Amendment was coterminous with the gutting of rights of the individual and in particular, of the African American individual. This continues today through our nations' system of structural disadvantages. Think about Citizens United like this: the idea behind the Kennedy opinion is that you can’t discriminate against a speaker based on its corporate status (even when corporate status here mostly means vast and deep pockets of wealth looking to keep even more wealth through conservative government).

He believes this speech is the same as your political speech, protected because it is all part of the marketplace of ideas. In that fictional marketplace, buyers, when confronted with all available ideas, move closer to truth and naturally pick the best ideas. This is simply never going to be the case. Big money and flashy ideas always win.

Corporations will always have more spending power than individuals; they already have more lobbyists. Just as equality demands that we account for structural forces that make it easier for a wealthy white male to go to college than an impoverished Latina, so does it demand that we view Wal-Mart or Halliburton's "free speech" as grossly disproportional to and fundamentally different than the free speech of individual (human) citizens. Allowing corporations unlimited amounts of spending power for campaign commercials of dubious truth can only further diminish and drown out the voices of the public. And all this in the name of equal protection . . .

In short, the perversion of equal rights by corporations is an affront to any true commitment on the part of this country to the civil rights envisioned by the framers of the Fourteenth Amendment.

If you are interested in writing for Race-Talk view our submission requirements.

Caitlin Watt
Legal Research Associate
The Kirwan Institute for the Study of Race and Ethnicity
The Ohio State University
(614) 247-1964
www.race-talk.org


Corporations and Democracy: The Citizens United Decision

Saturday, April 17
10 AM – Noon
Chagrin Falls Public Library
100 East Orange Street, Chagrin Fall

Presentation and discussion

Sponsored by Patriots for Change
http://www.patriotsforchange.org/

15,000 Demonstrate Against Neo-liberalism in Montreal

Ninety five different popular organizations comprising some 15,000 people demonstrated April 1 against the Charest Government's neo-liberal budget. For pictures see

http://www.flickr.com/photos/10060289@N05/sets/72157623625976023/show/

Thanks to the UCL -

http://voixdefaits.blogspot.com/

The Supreme Court's "Make Believe Law'

An excellent piece revealing the subjectivity of judicial decisions...

The Supreme Court's "Make Believe Law"
"The Law" is Nothing but an Amorphous Body of Assertions
By Prof John Kozy
Global Research, March 19, 2010
"Laws are like sausages. It is better not to see them being made." Otto von Bismarck (1815--1898)
http://www.globalresearch.ca/PrintArticle.php?articleId=18219

Survivors of Catholic Abuse to Confront Pope

In the wake of a growing child abuse scandal in the Roman Catholic church, and last October's historic rally outside the Vatican to remember the victims of church crimes, members of The Friends and Relatives of the Disappeared (FRD) will return to Europe next week to help convene an international Tribunal into crimes against humanity in which Pope Joseph Ratzinger is personally implicated.

Rev. Kevin Annett, who has spear headed a movement to bring to justice the churches that caused the death of thousands of aboriginal children in Christian residential schools in Canada, will lead a delegation of the FRD to Italy on March 29 that will include Cree nation elder Lillian Shirt and Ojibway nation elder Charles Cook, both of whom survived incarceration and torture in Catholic residential schools.

The FRD delegation will make a formal presentation to a human rights committee of the Italian parliament and will seek its endorsement for an international inquiry into the death of more than 50,000 children in the predominantly Catholic-run Indian residential school system in Canada.

The delegation will also conduct a sacred ceremony and memorial service for all victims of the Roman Catholic church outside the Vatican in St. Peter's Square on Easter Sunday, April 4, at 11 am

After speaking to audiences in a half dozen Italian cities between March 29 and April 8, the FRD delegation will travel to England and Ireland to unite with other survivors of Catholic church abuse, and hold public protests and rallies at government and church facilities in both countries.

In England, the delegation will hold memorial rallies outside Westminster (Catholic) Cathedral and Westminster (Anglican) Abbey on Sunday, April 11 between 10 AM and 12 noon, to remember children who died in residential schools run by these two churches.

That same evening, Rev. Annett will speak at a public meeting at 7 pm at Passing Clouds Centre in Dalston, London, 1 Richmond Road, E 8, concerning the genocide of native people in Canada, and the complicity of the Queen of England in this crime.

On Monday, April 12 at 12 noon, Annett and the delegation will hold a protest rally and press conference outside the Canadian Embassy, Canada House, at 5 Trafalgar Square, to indict the government and churches of Canada with charges of crimes against humanity.

In Ireland, on Thursday, April 15, Rev. Annett and the delegation will unite with survivors of Catholic Church abuse at a protest rally outside the Irish Dail (Parliament) in downtown Dublin at 12 noon.

The next day, on Friday, April 16, Rev. Annett will speak at a public meeting at the Happy Pear in Greystones, Co. Wicklow at 7.30 pm.

For more information on the details of these events, or to arrange media interviews with Rev. Annett and the aboriginal delegation, contact Annett through this email, or:

In Italy: Camilla - cnovelli@alice.it

In England: Penelope - penelope.pullen@sky.com

In ireland: Judy - judyrussell2@gmail.com

For background information, and to view the award-winning documentary of the FRD on genocide in Canada, Unrepentant, which will be screened at all the venues of the delegation see: www.hiddenfromhistory.org .

Call For Support From Chilean Comrades

Dear comrades,

The situation in this region called Chile is already known, thus we believe more details about the recent earthquake are not necessary, as the Internet offers a lot of information about what took place.

The group of individuals that make up the Productora de Comunicación Social* escaped physical damage, even though during the earthquake a couple of comrades from our organization were in Concepción, one of the most devastated regions - leaving the site where they were pretty much uninhabitable and losing some equipment used for the work of the organization.

In Santiago, our main workplace and where meetings were held, also home to a couple of our comrades - the Casa Volnitza - was partially destroyed. Currently, we are looking into repairing the site, since neither the Productora nor the Sociedad de Resistencia Santiago**, with whom we share the space, have another place to go to. Fortunately, we had no other substantial material losses, but the structural collapse that occurred in the Casa Volnitza was indeed major.

We have had constant contact with some organizations in southern Chile. The comrades that were near the epicenter were able to communicate directly with us about the help they need. There are social center and sister organizations in poblaciones, or working class neighborhoods, that were heavily damaged by the earthquake and also by actions taken by the police, the army, mass media and the government.

Given the circumstances, we are asking for help from our comrades from different parts of the world. Here in Santiago, businesses are up and running, so one can even buy food and basic items that are not reaching us via the government. We have already sent some help to the southern region with what we have here in Santiago, even though we too have been affected.

In our space, the Sociedad de Resistancia Santiago is helping to collect items to send to the most affected area where there are still no basic services, or wherever organizations are requesting help.

As the Productora we would like to request monetary support from all organizations that know our work and trust us. These contributions will be used to recover lost material and equipment, possible restorations or an alternative space and to send aid to the Southern organizations. Obviously no institutional channels work to help the direct work of anti-authoritarian organizations, so we reach out to you.

All persons or organizations interested in providing some sort of collaboration, contact us as quickly as possible at our e-mail: productoradecomunicacionsocial@gmail.com

See you soon.

Reconstructing the social movement,

Health, bread and freedom!

Productora de Comunicación Social.

Videorevista – Sin(a)psis***"

comunicando acción en la construcción del movimiento social"

Valparaíso - Santiago - Valdivia - Temuco - Antofagasta - Concepción – and beyond

Translator Note:

*The Productora de Comunicación Social, or Social Communication Production, are the production collectives that publish the Chilean video-magazine Sin(a)psis***, an independent publication in DVD format covering the praxis of anarchist organizing in that region and beyond. More info at: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=196759735730&index=1#!/pages/Chile/SINAPSIS-la-video-revista/161436684301

**The Sociedad de Resistencia Santiago groups the working, the unemployed and students into anti-authoritarian initiatives to generate collective solutions for immediate needs, be they economic, social and/or cultural without leaving behind the purpose of collective liberation. More info at: http://sociedadresistencia.blogspot.com/

You can also donate to other autonomous, anarchist and radical community based organizations by emailing or clicking on the links below.

Fondo Alquimia

for the Comunidad Lésbica La Teta Insurgente (lesbian anarcho-feminists in Concepción)http://www.fondoalquimia.org/Earthquake-in-Chile-Women-....html

http://www.darcontarjeta.cl/interior_institucion.asp?ll...atego...

Solo el Pueblo Ayuda al Pueblo- Campana de Solidaridad Popular

Only the People can help the People- Popular Solidarity Campaign

(a coalition of various organizations and individuals, including anti-authoritarians)http://soloelpuebloayudaaelpueblo.blogspot.com/

soloelpuebloayudaaelpueblo@yahoo.cl

For news and updates in Spanish check out:

http://santiago.indymedia.org/

http://chilesur.indymedia.org/

The Price is Not Right to Privatize/Corporatize

While Drew Carey’s love of Cleveland is solid, some of his ideas for saving the city are not. ["Reason Saves Cleveland with Drew Carey," http://reason.tv/video/show/1050]

Evidence that selling or leasing public assets like water or transportation systems to corporations, often headquartered in another state or country, is flimsy at best. “Public-private partnerships” are often nothing more than misnamed schemes to transfer control of public assets to corporations to maximize profits, often at the expense of public employment, quality of services and local control.

Existing public services are not perfect. But they can always be worse. Residents can now at least bring change by pressuring city service departments and/or public officials. This is much more difficult if a European or Asian based corporation controls the service.

At a time when some European nations are “re-municipalizing” water systems and other public utilities after a sordid record of rising prices and shoddy services, now is not the time to corporatize what is owned by us all. While Carey may feel the price is right for citizens to sell off public assets to corporations, the cost in jobs, service quality and local control is far too expensive.

The Impossibilists – the SPC and One Big Union

Hot off the press, THE IMPOSSIBILISTS is a collection of writings from the Socialist Party of Canada and the One Big Union from 1906 to 1938. There is also an introductory essay which describes the growth of the party in Western Canada and how the OBU developed out of it. Articles were chosen both for contemporary relevance and historical interest. Of interest today is their insistance that socialism be of a libertarian nature and not statism and the holistic philosophy that underlay this view. Of historical interest are the origins of the OBU, the debates on the Russian Revolution and the descriptions of the working conditions and struggles of that period. Included as well are the writings of labour martyr, Ginger Goodwin, back in print after 93 years.

This is a revised and updated version of the 1995 ms., with new material added. 90 pages, $10.00. (add $2.00 postage for US orders.) Will take Pay Pal. Cheques made out to L. Gambone. Available from Red Lion Press, Box 297, Stn A, Nanaimo, BC, V9R 4W7 or redlionpress@hotmail.com