Sunday, February 28, 2010

Jason Cato at Abriendo Brecha: Talks About ICE & Neoliberalism

PANELS ON IMMIGRATION & BORDERS

ICE-OUT: Stopping US Immigration and Customs Enforcement Collusion with Local Law Enforcement
* Jason Cato, Austin Immigrants Rights Coalition, UT Austin, Anthropology
* Caroline Keating-Guerra, Austin Immigrants Rights Coalition
* Andrea Guttin, Austin Immigrants Rights Coalition
* Patty Zavala, Austin Immigrants Rights Coalition
* John Reyes, Austin Immigrants Rights Coalition

Asian Culture Room
THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 18, 2010

For the full Briendo Brecha Event, visit:
http://www.utexas.edu/diversity/abriendobrecha/index.html

Saturday, February 27, 2010

Patricia Zavala at Abriendo Brecha VII - Talks About ICE (Immigration Customs Enforcement)

Seventh Annual Activist Scholarship Conference at the University of Texas at Austin

Abriendo Brecha is an annual conference at the University of Texas at Austin dedicated to activist scholarship; i.e. research and creative intellectual work in alignment with communities, organizations, movements and networks working for social justice. Abriendo Brecha VII calls for a renewed discussion on the meanings and practices of activist scholarship, particularly as it relates to the challenges of the present moment. Some themes for this years conference include: Race and Inequality throughout the Americas; Environmental Justice Movements; and The Global Economic Crisis. This years conference will consist of a mixed format that includes panels, workshops, poster presentations, performances and film. Featured speakers and artists include:

- Iris MoralesActivist, filmmaker and former leading member of the Young Lords Party. (Keynote) Thursday, 5pm, Santa Rita Room

- Omi Osun Olomo/Joni JonesDirector, John. L. Warfield Center for African & African American Studies at the University of Texas at Austin. (Keynote). Friday, 12pm, Santa Rita Room

- Javier AuyeroLozano Long Professor of Latin American Sociology, University of Texas at Austin. Friday, 2pm, Texas Union Theater

- Alejandro Cerdasociologist at the Universidad Autónoma Metropolitana de México, Unidad Xochimilco; expert on autonomy in Zapatista municipailites in Chiapas. Saturday, 4pm, Chicano Culture Room

- Eli Efi former front man and founder of the politically charged Brazilian rap group DMN. Friday, 5pm, Texas Union Theater

- Hilda KurtzAssociate Professor of Geography, University of Georgia. Friday, 2pm, Texas Union Theater

- Loira Limbal (aka DJ Laylo)Hiphop artist, co-producer of award winning documentary Estilo Hip Hop. Friday, 5pm, Texas Union Theater

- Adrienne PineAssistant professor of Anthropology, American University, and author of Working Hard, Drinking Hard: On Violence and Survival in Honduras. Saturday, 4pm, Chicano Culture Room

- Max RameauCommunity organizer, writer and leader of Miamis Take Back the Land. Saturday, 4pm, Chicano Culture Room

- Alvaro Reyespost-doctoral fellow, Department of Geography, Duke University. Friday, 2pm, Texas Union Theater

- Julie Sze Associate Professor of American Studies, founding director of the Environmental Justice Project for UC Davis John Muir Institute for the Environment. Saturday, 2pm, Texas Union Theater.

Sponsored by: Division of Diversity and Community Engagement (DDCE) Community Engagement Center at The University of Texas at Austin. Cosponsors: Center for Asian American Studies, Center for Mexican American Studies, Center for Womens and Gender Studies, College of Liberal Arts, John L. Warfield Center for African & African American Studies, Mexican Center, Teresa Lozano Long Institute of Latin American Studies.

Full conference program visit: www.utexas.edu/diversity/abriendobrecha

Dignity not Detention, National Campaign Launch, San Antonio, Immigration Issues, ICE, Immigration Customs Enforcement, Local Police, Human RIghts

Immigrants in the U.S. are detained in a secretive web of 350 private, federal, state and local jails and prisons, at an annual cost of $1.7 billion to taxpayers. Over 80% of detained immigrants go through the immigration system with no lawyer. Many are denied their fair day in court owing to mandatory and arbitrary detention laws and policies that severely limit judicial discretion. While detained, immigrants face horrific conditions of confinement, including mistreatment by guards, solitary confinement, the denial of medical attention and limited or no access to their families, lawyers and the outside world. Last year ICE announced plans to reform the immigration detention system, yet to date, there is little evidence of change.


Join Detention Watch Network as we launch our National Campaign Dignity, Not Detention: Preserving Human Rights and Restoring Justice which calls for an end to detention expansion nationally. Our demands:


We are demanding that President Obama take immediate action to

prevent human rights abuses in detention centers.


We are demanding that Congress restore due process to the enforcement of U.S. immigration laws and guarantee that every person has the right to a fair day in court.


We are demanding that the U.S. government put an end to the arbitrary detention of more than 300,000 people and start using cost-saving alternatives.


The campaign will include local site fights against detention expansion in Arizona, Georgia and Texas that underscore the impact of national detention policy on local communities. For more information, visit http://www.dignitynotdetention.org


On Feb. 25th, coordinated actions in support of the national campaign are taking place in cities across the country in cities including Gainesville (GA), Phoenix, San Antonio, New York, New Jersey and Los Angeles.


In Texas:

Bob Libal, Grassroots Leadership/TUFF

512-971-0487, blibal@grassrootsleadership.org

**Texas Event on Facebook: http://bit.ly/a9tp9M **

Location: San Antonio ICE Headquarters


Tuesday, February 23, 2010

Ali Abunimah from Gaza to Freedom: Future Scenarios for Palestine/Israel

The University of Texas Palestine Solidarity Committee Presents - Ali Abunimah from Gaza to Freedom: Future Scenarios for Palestine/Israel

Ali Abunimah is one of the most dynamic and well-informed speakers on Palestine. He is the Executive Director of The Electronic Intifada and a writer and commentator on Middle East and Arab-American affairs. His articles have appeared in The New York Times, The Los Angeles Times, The Chicago Tribune, The Financial Times, The Philadelphia Inquirer, The Jordan Times, Lebanon's Daily Star and Ha'aretz, among others. He is frequent guest on local, national and international radio and television, including public radio and television, CNN, MSNBC, Fox, the BBC and many others. Abunimah lectures frequently at colleges in the United States. He received his BA from Princeton University and MA from the University of Chicago. Abunimah travels often to the Middle East and is a full-time researcher in social policy at the University of Chicago. His first book, One Country: A Bold Proposal to End the Israeli-Palestinian Impasse, was published in 2007 and makes a compelling case for a one-state solution based on legal equality for Israelis and Palestinians.

Check him out on twitter:
http://www.twitter.com/avinunu

Monday, February 22, 2010

Q & A with Ali Abunimah from Gaza to Freedom: Future Scenarios for Palestine/Israel

The University of Texas Palestine Solidarity Committee Presents - Ali Abunimah from Gaza to Freedom: Future Scenarios for Palestine/Israel

Ali Abunimah is one of the most dynamic and well-informed speakers on Palestine. He is the Executive Director of The Electronic Intifada and a writer and commentator on Middle East and Arab-American affairs. His articles have appeared in The New York Times, The Los Angeles Times, The Chicago Tribune, The Financial Times, The Philadelphia Inquirer, The Jordan Times, Lebanon's Daily Star and Ha'aretz, among others. He is frequent guest on local, national and international radio and television, including public radio and television, CNN, MSNBC, Fox, the BBC and many others. Abunimah lectures frequently at colleges in the United States. He received his BA from Princeton University and MA from the University of Chicago. Abunimah travels often to the Middle East and is a full-time researcher in social policy at the University of Chicago. His first book, One Country: A Bold Proposal to End the Israeli-Palestinian Impasse, was published in 2007 and makes a compelling case for a one-state solution based on legal equality for Israelis and Palestinians.

Check him out on twitter:
http://www.twitter.com/avinunu

Tuesday, February 16, 2010

The Problem is Civil Obedience - Howard Zinn 1971-2007

Public reenactment of a speech given by author and activist Howard Zinn at a peace rally on Boston Common on May 5, 1971. Zinn defends the use of civil disobedience to protest the war in Vietnam and calls on Congress to impeach the president and vice president of the United States for the high crime of waging war on the people of Southeast Asia. Matthew Floyd Miller, a New York-based actor delivered the speech on location in Boston on July 14, 2007.


Introduction & Points of Unity - Escalate the Peace!

Neither sleet nor drizzle deterred a scheduled antiwar rally on the Texas State University (TSU) Campus in San Marcos on Wednesday, February 10. In the courtyard of the LBJ Amphitheatre, speakers used bullhorns to talk about Iraq, Afghanistan, Yemen, and Palestine under a banner that read, Escalate the Peace!

The rally was organized by two TSU student organizations, the Campus Antiwar Movement to End the Occupations (CAMEO) and the Progressive Bobcats Union (PBU).

Speakers included Rev. Jim Rigby from St. Andrews Presbyterian Church in Austin and Bobby Whittenberg, an antiwar activist who was deployed to Iraq as a Marine. Courtney Glenn, one of the rally organizers, read a poem about returning soldiers. Caitlin Eaves spoke about Yemen. Liz Welch read a passage from Howard Zinn about why we should never lose hope.

Bobby Whittenberg Speaks Out - Escalate the Peace!

Neither sleet nor drizzle deterred a scheduled antiwar rally on the Texas State University (TSU) Campus in San Marcos on Wednesday, February 10. In the courtyard of the LBJ Amphitheatre, speakers used bullhorns to talk about Iraq, Afghanistan, Yemen, and Palestine under a banner that read, Escalate the Peace!


The rally was organized by two TSU student organizations, the Campus Antiwar Movement to End the Occupations (CAMEO) and the Progressive Bobcats Union (PBU).


Speakers included Rev. Jim Rigby from St. Andrews Presbyterian Church in Austin and Bobby Whittenberg, an antiwar activist who was deployed to Iraq as a Marine. Courtney Glenn, one of the rally organizers, read a poem about returning soldiers. Caitlin Eaves spoke about Yemen. Liz Welch read a passage from Howard Zinn about why we should never lose hope.


Rev. Jim Rigby Speaks Out - Escalate the Peace!

Neither sleet nor drizzle deterred a scheduled antiwar rally on the Texas State University (TSU) Campus in San Marcos on Wednesday, February 10. In the courtyard of the LBJ Amphitheatre, speakers used bullhorns to talk about Iraq, Afghanistan, Yemen, and Palestine under a banner that read, Escalate the Peace!


The rally was organized by two TSU student organizations, the Campus Antiwar Movement to End the Occupations (CAMEO) and the Progressive Bobcats Union (PBU).


Speakers included Rev. Jim Rigby from St. Andrews Presbyterian Church in Austin and Bobby Whittenberg, an antiwar activist who was deployed to Iraq as a Marine. Courtney Glenn, one of the rally organizers, read a poem about returning soldiers. Caitlin Eaves spoke about Yemen. Liz Welch read a passage from Howard Zinn about why we should never lose hope.


Ramsey Doany Speaks Out - Escalate the Peace!

Neither sleet nor drizzle deterred a scheduled antiwar rally on the Texas State University (TSU) Campus in San Marcos on Wednesday, February 10. In the courtyard of the LBJ Amphitheatre, speakers used bullhorns to talk about Iraq, Afghanistan, Yemen, and Palestine under a banner that read, Escalate the Peace!


The rally was organized by two TSU student organizations, the Campus Antiwar Movement to End the Occupations (CAMEO) and the Progressive Bobcats Union (PBU).


Speakers included Rev. Jim Rigby from St. Andrews Presbyterian Church in Austin and Bobby Whittenberg, an antiwar activist who was deployed to Iraq as a Marine. Courtney Glenn, one of the rally organizers, read a poem about returning soldiers. Caitlin Eaves spoke about Yemen. Liz Welch read a passage from Howard Zinn about why we should never lose hope.


Alice Embree Speaks Out - Escalate the Peace!

Neither sleet nor drizzle deterred a scheduled antiwar rally on the Texas State University (TSU) Campus in San Marcos on Wednesday, February 10. In the courtyard of the LBJ Amphitheatre, speakers used bullhorns to talk about Iraq, Afghanistan, Yemen, and Palestine under a banner that read, Escalate the Peace!

The rally was organized by two TSU student organizations, the Campus Antiwar Movement to End the Occupations (CAMEO) and the Progressive Bobcats Union (PBU).

Speakers included Rev. Jim Rigby from St. Andrews Presbyterian Church in Austin and Bobby Whittenberg, an antiwar activist who was deployed to Iraq as a Marine. Courtney Glenn, one of the rally organizers, read a poem about returning soldiers. Caitlin Eaves spoke about Yemen. Liz Welch read a passage from Howard Zinn about why we should never lose hope.

Courtney Glenn Reads Poem - Escalate the Peace!

Neither sleet nor drizzle deterred a scheduled antiwar rally on the Texas State University (TSU) Campus in San Marcos on Wednesday, February 10. In the courtyard of the LBJ Amphitheatre, speakers used bullhorns to talk about Iraq, Afghanistan, Yemen, and Palestine under a banner that read, Escalate the Peace!


The rally was organized by two TSU student organizations, the Campus Antiwar Movement to End the Occupations (CAMEO) and the Progressive Bobcats Union (PBU).


Speakers included Rev. Jim Rigby from St. Andrews Presbyterian Church in Austin and Bobby Whittenberg, an antiwar activist who was deployed to Iraq as a Marine. Courtney Glenn, one of the rally organizers, read a poem about returning soldiers. Caitlin Eaves spoke about Yemen. Liz Welch read a passage from Howard Zinn about why we should never lose hope.


Joe Vastano Reads Poem - Escalate the Peace!

Neither sleet nor drizzle deterred a scheduled antiwar rally on the Texas State University (TSU) Campus in San Marcos on Wednesday, February 10. In the courtyard of the LBJ Amphitheatre, speakers used bullhorns to talk about Iraq, Afghanistan, Yemen, and Palestine under a banner that read, Escalate the Peace!


The rally was organized by two TSU student organizations, the Campus Antiwar Movement to End the Occupations (CAMEO) and the Progressive Bobcats Union (PBU).


Speakers included Rev. Jim Rigby from St. Andrews Presbyterian Church in Austin and Bobby Whittenberg, an antiwar activist who was deployed to Iraq as a Marine. Courtney Glenn, one of the rally organizers, read a poem about returning soldiers. Caitlin Eaves spoke about Yemen. Liz Welch read a passage from Howard Zinn about why we should never lose hope.


Liz Welch Reads Howard Zinn - Escalate the Peace!

Neither sleet nor drizzle deterred a scheduled antiwar rally on the Texas State University (TSU) Campus in San Marcos on Wednesday, February 10. In the courtyard of the LBJ Amphitheatre, speakers used bullhorns to talk about Iraq, Afghanistan, Yemen, and Palestine under a banner that read, Escalate the Peace!


The rally was organized by two TSU student organizations, the Campus Antiwar Movement to End the Occupations (CAMEO) and the Progressive Bobcats Union (PBU).


Speakers included Rev. Jim Rigby from St. Andrews Presbyterian Church in Austin and Bobby Whittenberg, an antiwar activist who was deployed to Iraq as a Marine. Courtney Glenn, one of the rally organizers, read a poem about returning soldiers. Caitlin Eaves spoke about Yemen. Liz Welch read a passage from Howard Zinn about why we should never lose hope.


Caitlin Eaves Speaks Out - Escalate the Peace

Neither sleet nor drizzle deterred a scheduled antiwar rally on the Texas State University (TSU) Campus in San Marcos on Wednesday, February 10. In the courtyard of the LBJ Amphitheatre, speakers used bullhorns to talk about Iraq, Afghanistan, Yemen, and Palestine under a banner that read, Escalate the Peace!


The rally was organized by two TSU student organizations, the Campus Antiwar Movement to End the Occupations (CAMEO) and the Progressive Bobcats Union (PBU).


Speakers included Rev. Jim Rigby from St. Andrews Presbyterian Church in Austin and Bobby Whittenberg, an antiwar activist who was deployed to Iraq as a Marine. Courtney Glenn, one of the rally organizers, read a poem about returning soldiers. Caitlin Eaves spoke about Yemen. Liz Welch read a passage from Howard Zinn about why we should never lose hope.


Rev. John Marion Speaks Out - Escalate the Peace!

Neither sleet nor drizzle deterred a scheduled antiwar rally on the Texas State University (TSU) Campus in San Marcos on Wednesday, February 10. In the courtyard of the LBJ Amphitheatre, speakers used bullhorns to talk about Iraq, Afghanistan, Yemen, and Palestine under a banner that read, Escalate the Peace!


The rally was organized by two TSU student organizations, the Campus Antiwar Movement to End the Occupations (CAMEO) and the Progressive Bobcats Union (PBU).


Speakers included Rev. Jim Rigby from St. Andrews Presbyterian Church in Austin and Bobby Whittenberg, an antiwar activist who was deployed to Iraq as a Marine. Courtney Glenn, one of the rally organizers, read a poem about returning soldiers. Caitlin Eaves spoke about Yemen. Liz Welch read a passage from Howard Zinn about why we should never lose hope.


Closing Ceremony Honoring the Victims of U.S. Empire - Escalate the Peace

Neither sleet nor drizzle deterred a scheduled antiwar rally on the Texas State University (TSU) Campus in San Marcos on Wednesday, February 10. In the courtyard of the LBJ Amphitheatre, speakers used bullhorns to talk about Iraq, Afghanistan, Yemen, and Palestine under a banner that read, Escalate the Peace!


The rally was organized by two TSU student organizations, the Campus Antiwar Movement to End the Occupations (CAMEO) and the Progressive Bobcats Union (PBU).


Speakers included Rev. Jim Rigby from St. Andrews Presbyterian Church in Austin and Bobby Whittenberg, an antiwar activist who was deployed to Iraq as a Marine. Courtney Glenn, one of the rally organizers, read a poem about returning soldiers. Caitlin Eaves spoke about Yemen. Liz Welch read a passage from Howard Zinn about why we should never lose hope.


Monday, February 15, 2010

Escalate the Peace - Liz Welch & Bobby Whittenberg - Interviews

Neither sleet nor drizzle deterred a scheduled antiwar rally on the Texas State University (TSU) Campus in San Marcos on Wednesday, February 10. In the courtyard of the LBJ Amphitheatre, speakers used bullhorns to talk about Iraq, Afghanistan, Yemen, and Palestine under a banner that read, Escalate the Peace!


The rally was organized by two TSU student organizations, the Campus Antiwar Movement to End the Occupations (CAMEO) and the Progressive Bobcats Union (PBU).


Speakers included Rev. Jim Rigby from St. Andrews Presbyterian Church in Austin and Bobby Whittenberg, an antiwar activist who was deployed to Iraq as a Marine. Courtney Glenn, one of the rally organizers, read a poem about returning soldiers. Caitlin Eaves spoke about Yemen. Liz Welch read a passage from Howard Zinn about why we should never lose hope.


Escalate the Peace - Ramsey Doaney & Patrick Moore - Interviews

Neither sleet nor drizzle deterred a scheduled antiwar rally on the Texas State University (TSU) Campus in San Marcos on Wednesday, February 10. In the courtyard of the LBJ Amphitheatre, speakers used bullhorns to talk about Iraq, Afghanistan, Yemen, and Palestine under a banner that read, Escalate the Peace!


The rally was organized by two TSU student organizations, the Campus Antiwar Movement to End the Occupations (CAMEO) and the Progressive Bobcats Union (PBU).


Speakers included Rev. Jim Rigby from St. Andrews Presbyterian Church in Austin and Bobby Whittenberg, an antiwar activist who was deployed to Iraq as a Marine. Courtney Glenn, one of the rally organizers, read a poem about returning soldiers. Caitlin Eaves spoke about Yemen. Liz Welch read a passage from Howard Zinn about why we should never lose hope.


Tuesday, February 9, 2010

Until The Last Gun Is Silent: Coretta Scott King 1968/2006

Public reenactment of a speech given by Coretta Scott King at a peace march in Central Park on April 27, 1968, three weeks after her husband, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., was assassinated. In this speech, which was based on notes found in the late Dr. King's pockets, King addresses the war in Vietnam, domestic poverty, and the power of women to effect social change. Gina Brown, a New York-based actor and former welfare mother, delivered the speech on location in Central Park on September 16, 2006.


We Are Also Responsible: Cesar Chavez 1971/2008

Public reenactment of a speech given by Chicano labor leader and civil rights activist Cesar Chavez at a Vietnam veterans memorial rally at Exposition Park in Los Angeles on May 2, 1971. Chavez speaks about organizing migrant farm workers, the importance of sacrifice for justice, and offering youth an alternative to violence and war. Ricardo Dominguez, artist and co-founder of The Electronic Disturbance Theater, delivered the speech on location on July 19, 2008.


Let Another World Be Born: Stokely Carmichael 1967/2008

Public reenactment of a speech originally given by Stokely Carmichael, the chairman of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, in front of the UN Building in New York City on April 15, 1967. Carmichael argues that the civil rights movement must oppose the war in Vietnam, discusses the central role of genocide in American History, and issues a forceful call to organize against war, exploitation and racism. Ato Essandoh, a New York City-based actor delivered the speech on location on September 7, 2008.


We Must Name The System: Paul Potter 1965/2007

Public reenactment of a speech given by Paul Potter, former President of the Students for a Democratic Society (SDS), at the April 17, 1965 March on Washington. Potter offers an insightful critique of our governments use of the rhetoric of freedom to justify war, and calls for citizens of the United States to create a massive social movement to build a democratic and humane society in which Vietnams are unthinkable. Max Bunzel, a Washington D.C.-based actor delivered the speech on location on July 26, 2007. Quotes: "We must name that system. We must name it, describe it, analyze it, understand it and change it. For it is only when that system is changed and brought under control that there can be any hope for stopping the forces that create a war in Vietnam today or a murder in the South tomorrow or all the incalculable, innumerable more subtle atrocities that are worked on people all over all the time." "How do you stop a war then? If the war has its roots deep in the institutions of American society, how do you stop it? Do you march to Washington? Is that enough? Who will hear us? How can you make the decision makers hear us, insulated as they are, if they cannot hear the screams of a little girl burnt by napalm?" This movie is part of the collection: Open Source Movies


Sunday, February 7, 2010

The Liberation of Our People: Angela Davis 1969/2008

Public reenactment of a speech originally given by activist and Black Panther Party member Angela Davis at DeFremery Park in Oakland, California on November 12, 1969. Davis makes the case for a united movement that links imperialism abroad with domestic oppression. She calls for the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Vietnam, for the release of domestic political prisoners, and for the defeat and humiliation of the US Government. Sheilagh Brooks, an Oakland-based actor and community organizer, delivered the speech on location in DeFremery Park on August 2, 2008.

Quotes:

"This whole economy in this country is a war economy. It's based on the fact that more and more and more weapons are being produced. What happens if the war in Vietnam ceases? How is the economy going to stand unless another Vietnam is created, and who is to determine where that Vietnam is gonna be? It can be abroad, or it can be right here at home."

"It's evident that the terror is becoming not just isolated instances of police brutality here and there, but that terror is becoming an everyday instrument of the institutions of this country."


This movie is part of the collection:

Short Clip from American Radical: The Trials of Norman Finkelstein

A short clip from "American Radical" with Dr Norman Finklestein. A must see film!

Friday, February 5, 2010

Amy Goodman - Bridging the Media Gaps

The political establishment determines the boundaries of conventional discourse. So typically mainstream media debates revolve around: How many troops are required for Afghanistan? Or should drone attacks on Pakistan be expanded? The embedded premises are never articulated and thus are never open to scrutiny, understanding, and challenge. The media mostly function as a kind of Hallelujah chorus praising the system of power and privilege but ever quick to highlight the sexual peccadilloes of individual politicians, celebrity sightings and divorces, steroids and sports, extreme weather and sensational crime usually missing children. The trees are closely examined and the forest is totally missed. An enormous abyss exists between media-drawn depictions and actual fact. An independent media free from corporate control can break through the spin and be the span that provides genuine information that links citizens to reality rather than fantasy.

Amy Goodman is the award-winning host of "Democracy Now" the daily syndicated radio and TV program. Howard Zinn says, "Amy Goodman has carried the great muckraking tradition of Upton Sinclair, George Seldes, and I.F. Stone into the electronic age, creating a powerful counter to the mainstream media." She's the author of "The Exception to the Rulers" and "Breaking the Sound Barrier."

Amy Goodman spoke at

Amy Goodman - Bridging the Media Gaps

The political establishment determines the boundaries of conventional discourse. So typically mainstream media debates revolve around: How many troops are required for Afghanistan? Or should drone attacks on Pakistan be expanded? The embedded premises are never articulated and thus are never open to scrutiny, understanding, and challenge. The media mostly function as a kind of Hallelujah chorus praising the system of power and privilege but ever quick to highlight the sexual peccadilloes of individual politicians, celebrity sightings and divorces, steroids and sports, extreme weather and sensational crime usually missing children. The trees are closely examined and the forest is totally missed. An enormous abyss exists between media-drawn depictions and actual fact. An independent media free from corporate control can break through the spin and be the span that provides genuine information that links citizens to reality rather than fantasy.

Amy Goodman is the award-winning host of "Democracy Now" the daily syndicated radio and TV program. Howard Zinn says, "Amy Goodman has carried the great muckraking tradition of Upton Sinclair, George Seldes, and I.F. Stone into the electronic age, creating a powerful counter to the mainstream media." She's the author of "The Exception to the Rulers" and "Breaking the Sound Barrier.

Thursday, February 4, 2010

New Years 2010 in Austin

Jimi Hendrix Plays Auld Lang Sang to Video of New Years in Austin 2010!

Tuesday, February 2, 2010

Richard Becker - The Struggle for a Free Palestine

Author Richard Becker's new book, *Palestine, Israel and the U.S. Empire*, provides a sharp analysis of the struggle for Palestine from the division of the Middle East by Western powers and the Zionist settler movement, to the founding of Israel and its role as a watchdog for U.S. interests, to present-day conflicts and the prospects for a just resolution. It promises to interest both long-term Palestinian rights activists and those who are new to understanding the issue.


Q & A Richard Becker - The Struggle for a Free Palestine

Question and Answer with Author Richard Becker. Becker's new book, *Palestine, Israel and the U.S. Empire*, provides a sharp analysis of the struggle for Palestine from the division of the Middle East by Western powers and the Zionist settler movement, to the founding of Israel and its role as a watchdog for U.S. interests, to present-day conflicts and the prospects for a just resolution. It promises to interest both long-term Palestinian rights activists and those who are new to understanding the issue.

Monday, February 1, 2010

Deep River Blues - Live Music at NXNW in Austin

Live music at NXNW in Austin, acoustic version of Doc Watson's song Deep River Blues.