THE INDY WINS BIG AT THE IPA PRESS AWARDS! SEE P3 THEINDYPENDENT Issue #62, December 22, 2004 – Januray 11, 2005 • a free paper for free people

Invisible Soldier vets are landing on the streets. More are on the way. SEE PAGE 4

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©ANDREW STERN/ANDREWSTERN.NET ANTRIM CASKEY

UGANDA ON ONE SMALL CORNER II OF EARTH BIG PAGE 8 BROTHER JUST GOT THE ONLY BIGGER MUSICIAN PAGE 5 THAT MATTERED indypendent.org PAGE 10 PREACHING THE GOSPEL OF REVOLUTION BY KIERA BUTLER On the third Sunday of advent, the Reverend Earl INDEPENDENT Kooperkamp told his The gregarious Reverend Kooperkamp remains animated after the 10a.m. service, as he MEDIA CENTER congregation at St. Mary’s runs off to a vestry meeting. Below Left: Reverend Kooperkamp succors a parishioner, Episcopal Church to go. and they’re both left laughing. PHOTOS: ANTRIM CASKEY Phone: 212.684.8112 “Go. Scram. Get outta here,” he said, flick- When Reverend Kooperkamp became pas- come out when he pronounces the name of Email: ing his hand at the 30 or so congregants in tor of St. Mary’s Church four and a half years the city where he grew up. “Low-ville,” he [email protected] the pews. ago, he knew he wanted to continue the tra- says for Louisville, Kentucky. He remembers Actually, he was (very loosely) quoting dition of community activism. going to church with his family during the Web: Jesus Christ. Christ, Kooperkamp explained, Shortly after the terrorist attacks of ; it was during that time that he NYC: www.nyc.indymedia.org was always telling people to “go.” To go September 11, 2001, Kooperkamp hosted the realized that he wanted to be a pastor and GLOBAL: www.indymedia.org spread his teachings. To go fight injustice. founding meeting of Not in Our Name, a that he didn’t want to fight in the war. After Office and Mail: To go sit in church on Sunday, Kooperkamp group that demonstrates against what he calls graduating from Hampshire College, he said, was not enough. “the American war machine.” He also led the enrolled in Union Theological Seminary in NYC Independent Media Center St. Mary’s Episcopal Church, a gothic-style church to support the Peace Tax Fund Bill, Morningside Heights. 34 E. 29th St. 2nd Floor cathedral nestled among public housing com- which would allow conscientious objectors In the early 1980s while he was in semi- NY, NY 10016 plexes, delis and a police station, stands on not to pay war tax. Congregants meet at St. nary, Kooperkamp wasn’t sure he was in the 126th Street between Broadway and Mary’s to fight against the death penalty, to right place. He had been listening to punk WHAT IS INDYMEDIA? Amsterdam Ave. Founded in 1823, it is the preserve immigrants’ rights and to keep pub- rock for a while, and he remembered the With autonomous chapters in more second oldest church in Harlem, and it was lic housing in Harlem safe. night he saw the Ramones live in an acousti- than 100 cities throughout the world, the first “free pew” church; congregation And St. Mary’s hosts more than just church cally perfect auditorium as one of the high- the Independent Media Center is an international network of volunteer members never had to pay to worship. groups. lights of his life. Sometimes, he looked media activists. “It’s a base area for all kinds of social and around at his fellow seminarians and sus- The IMC seeks to create a new political activity, all the way from Hillary pected he might not fit in. media ethic by providing progressive, Clinton coming here to meetings about revo- But as he saw leaders like renowned scholar in-depth and accurate coverage of lution,” said Phil Farnham, 71, as he distrib- preaching radical politics, he issues. We are a community-based uted fliers for the New York City chapter of began to realize religion was “one of the most organization using media to facilitate the Revolutionary Communist Party, which subversive things on earth.” political and cultural self-represen- meets at the church. The past few years have been a trying time to tation. We seek to analyze issues “The things that we move against at St. be a socially liberal pastor. Kooperkamp has affecting individuals, communities Mary’s are the imperial institutions,” said watched conservatism increasingly dominate and ecosystems by providing media Kooperkamp. “I believe that the Christian the religious community. When conservative tools and space to those seeking to communicate. We espouse open dia- religion is based on freedom.” leaders co-opt radical language, he is outraged. logue and placing the means of com- Kooperkamp, 48, lists among his major He remembers listening to the Reverend munication and creativity back in the regrets in life never having seen the Clash Richard Land, a Southern Baptist leader, hands of the people, away from the play live. He is slight with brown hair and comparing the fight against abortion to the drive of profit. light blue eyes. While he’s preaching, he abolitionist movement. The Indypendent is funded by bene- moves constantly. “To couch the anti-abortion movement in fits, subscriptions, donations, grants According to Kooperkamp, approximately that kind of language is to knock down the and ads from organizations and indi- three-quarters of the 175-member congrega- liberation women have been able to achieve,” viduals with similar missions. tion are African-American, and the remain- Kooperkamp said. WHAT CAN I DO TO GET INVOLVED? ing quarter are white and Hispanic. Some And in New York City, some people equate The IMC has an open door. You can members are Columbia professors, and others “Christian” with “fundamentalist” or even, write for The Indypendent, film events are homeless. Kooperkamp says, “crazy.” and rallies, self-publish articles to But Kooperkamp said it wasn’t hard for “These people that think it’s wacko, they the web, take photos or just help us members to find common ground. don’t know the half of it,” said Kooperkamp. run the office. As an organization “We have something in common, which is “To have a sister or brother say ‘I’m praying relying on volunteer support, we that we live in West Harlem,” he said. for you,’ when you’re struggling – it’s an encourage all forms of participation. The last traces of Kooperkamp’s drawl amazing gift of grace.” The print team reserves the right to edit articles for length, content and clarity. We welcome your participation in the entire editorial process. WHERE DO I GET MY COPY OF VOLUNTEER STAFF: Chris Anderson, Silvia Arana, Caitlin THE INDYPENDENT? A FREE PAPER FOR FREE PEOPLE Benedetto, Bennett Baumer, Jed Brandt, BELOW 14TH ST. 14TH TO 96TH ST. Coogan’s Bar Freddy’s Bar and Backroom QUEENS BRONX Kazembe Bulagoon, Mike Burke, Leigh 169th St. & Broadway Dean St. & 6th Ave. Ann Caldwell, Antrim Caskey, Ellen Bluestockings Revolution Books Sunnyside Library Bronx Museum Books & Café 9 W. 19th St. Fort Washington BAM 43-06 Greenpoint Ave. 165th St. & Grand Concourse Davidson, Terence Dignon, Shea Dean, Bakery & Deli 30 Lafayette Ave. Ryan Dunsmuir, Ari Edelkind, Miguel Erb, 172 Allen St. Chelsea Sq. Diner 808 W. 181st St. East Elmhurst Library The Point Chiam Garcia, Alfredo Garzon, Adam 23rd St. & 9th Ave. Community Book Store 95-06 Astoria Blvd. 940 Garrison Ave. Times Up! Jumpin’ Jalapenos 7th Ave. & Carroll Sts. Gerber, Neela Ghoshal, Lauren 49 E. Houston St. Second Wave W. 207th St. Jackson Heights Library JERSEY CITY THE INDYPENDENT Giambrone, David Gochfeld, Maggie Laundrocenter (between B’wy & Vermillya) Tea Lounge 35-51 81st St. Gram, A.K. Gupta, Ruth Kelton, Amelia H. Lotus Café 55th St. & 9th Ave. Union St. @ 7th Ave. Five Corners Public Library Cafe Seven Friend’s Tavern 678 Newark Ave. Clinton & Stanton Sts. 9th St. @ 7th Ave. Krales, Ida Lake, Renee Leonowicz, F. Ziggies 7 Henshaw St. 78-11 Roosevelt Ave. Timothy Martin, Edgar Mata, Nik Moore, Atlantis Super Laundry Key Foods 94th St. & 2nd Ave. Lydia Neri, Ana Nogueira, Donald Paneth, BROOKLYN Center Langston Hughes Library Ave. A & E. 4th St. 100-01 Northern Blvd. James Powell, Derq Quiqqle, Shawn ABOVE 96th ST. Tillie’s of Brooklyn 472 Atlantic Ave. Redden, Frank Reynoso, Maximus May Day Books at Labyrinth Books 248 Dekalb Ave. Photoplay Video Café Aubergine Help Santos, Ann Schneider, Sheba Sethi, Theater for the New City 536 W. 112th St. Green Apple Café 933 Manhattan Ave. 49-22 Skillman Ave. Andy Smenos, Tim Sparkman, Andrew 155 First Ave. 96th St. Library 110 Dekalb Ave. Verb Cafe Sunnyside Library distribute Stern, Catriona Stuart, Sarah Stuteville, (between 9th & 10th Sts.) 112 E. 96th St. Marquet Patisserie Bedford Ave. & N. 5th St. 43-06 Greenpoint Ave. Maggie Suisman, John Tarleton, Liz 680 Fulton St. Housing Works Kim’s Books Jane Doe Books Tupelo Bar Tillotson, Leanne Tory-Murphy, Rhianna 113th St. & Broadway 93 Montrose Ave. 35th St. & 34th Ave. the Indy! 126 Crosby St. Halcyon Tyson, Matthew Wasserman, Steven 227 Smith St. Strictly Roots Restaurant Make the Road Book Value DECEMBER 22, 2004 – JANUARY 11, 2005 Wishnia, Amy Wolf call 212.684.8112 LGBT Center 123rd & Adam Clayton Moda Cafe by Walking Broadway between

2 213 W. 13th St. Powell 294 5th Ave. 301 Grove St. 33rd & 34th Sts. Witch-hunt Targets CHAOS AT CASA DEL SOL

Police (right) look on as a pair of protest- Columbia Prof ers drop a banner from the top of Casa del Sol during a Dec. 12 protest. Moments later, police attacked a crowd BY CHRIS ANDERSON icize Israeli foreign policy.” of about 60 people who had gathered Since the harassment charges were made s Columbia University students begin public, Massad has received numerous pieces of outside the long-time community center. their winter break, the campus remains hate mail, including an email from Moshe Seven people were arrested. in turmoil over accusations of harass- Rubin, a professor of medicine at Columbia. A Casa del Sol, located on 672-674 E. ment in the school’s Middle Eastern and According to the Colombia Spectator, it read in Asian Languages and Cultures Department part: “Go back to Arab land where Jew hating 136th St. in the South Bronx, has been (MEALAC). is condoned. Get the hell out of America. You home to a number of activists and cul- A faculty committee is investigating are a disgrace and a pathetic typical Arab liar.” tural projects since it was first squatted charges that MEALAC Professor Joseph Massad is one of several MEALAC profes- 20 years ago. It hosted hundreds of Massad intimidated Israeli and Jewish stu- sors being targeted in an orchestrated cam- RNC protesters in August, about 30 of dents in his classroom. The investigation has paign by Campus Watch, which has been whom stayed to help revitalize the in turn sparked an outcry as Columbia labeled a “blacklisting project” for its attacks space. Police cleared the building Nov. University admitted that no formal student against academics critical of . 30. Hours later, it was gutted by a mys- complaint has been “initiated through any of An Oct. 29 article in the The Jewish Week terious, four-alarm fire. The building is the formal processes at the university” pokes further holes in the harassment now under the control of ACORN, a con- against Massad. charges. The article, based on almost two troversial non-profit group that has The accusations, instead, first appeared in a dozen interviews with current and former vowed to build affordable low-income 20-minute film, Columbia Unbecoming, which MEALAC students, found that “a much dif- housing in the building. circulated around the university this October. ferent picture emerges than the one seem- PHOTOS: Columbia Unbecoming was produced by the ingly portrayed [in Columbia Unbecoming]... ©ANDREW STERN/ANDREWSTERN.NET Most of the complaints on campus appear to be from pro-Israel activist students not in the MEALAC program.” Israeli native Lia Mayer-Sommer told The Jewish Week that “it wasn’t fun to be the only Israeli in [Massad’s] class, but I never felt intimidated. Passionate, emotional, but not intimidated.” Despite the flimsiness of the charges and concerns that the campaign is part of a broader agenda to curtail academic free- dom, Columbia has responded swiftly to the claims of intimidation. A month-long investigation by Provost Alan Brinkley concluded that Columbia’s grievance proce- Professor Joseph Massad PHOTO: J. ADAS dure was “inadequate” and called for “an ad hoc committee, drawn from the faculty, to David Project, a Boston-based organization hear student complaints and, when appro- that declares itself “a proud member of the priate, investigate them.” This committee Israel on Campus Coalition,” and sees its mis- is continuing to examine the charges sion as promoting “the truth about Israel” on against MEALAC. university campuses. Some Columbia students are concerned that Massad denies that he harassed or intimi- the right soundly out-organized left-wing dated students, countering that Columbia campus groups. “We don’t have the funders Unbecoming “is the latest salvo in a campaign of and we don’t have the support of the tabloid intimidation of Jewish and non-Jewish profes- media in New York,” Dols said in response to sors who criticize Israel.” In a statement posted a reporter’s question at a Dec. 7 press confer- on Columbia’s website, Massad says, “This ence. “But the meetings of the Coalition to witch-hunt aims to stifle pluralism, academic Defend Academic Freedom have been large, Student Residence on freedom, and the freedom of expression on and in terms of spirit and in terms of interest university campuses in order to ensure that we feel we’re ahead of the other side.” only one opinion is permitted, that of uncriti- But frustration over a lack of a response cal support for the State of Israel.” among supporters of the besieged professors CHARAS Site Nixed Monique Dols, a history student at Columbia boiled over at the press conference. “Nothing’s and member of the Ad Hoc Committee to happening here at all,” complained a visibly BY SARAH STUTEVILLE importance of the building and encourage Defend Academic Freedom, echoes Massad’s agitated student in the audience. “Are we just the New York City Landmarks Preservation arguments. “These accusations… are at best going to sit around and wait until they attack ouncilwoman Margarita Lopez, a Committee to place P.S. 64 on the landmark dishonest and at worst slanderous, a politi- another professor on bogus charges, or until long-time activist in the four-year registry, a move that would permanently pro- cally motivated campaign of intimidation they fire this one? What’s going on in this Cfight to reclaim the old P.S. 64 build- tect the almost 100-year-old building, built against individuals on campus that dare crit- country these days?” ing from developer Gregg Singer, announced by renowned architect C.B.J. Snyder. a remarkable victory to a cheering crowd of The EVCC documented its vibrant past in a Lower East Side residents at a Dec. 15 com- report titled, “The Significant History of Public munity meeting. School 64,” which reveals that P.S. 64 alumni THE INDY WINS BIG AT THE IPPIES! “Today, Mr. Singer’s request for a permit to include songwriter Yip Harburg (“Somewhere demolish and build a dorm tower was disap- Over the Rainbow”) and actor Sam Levene. The THE INDYPENDENT WON 11 “IPPIES” DEC. 15 AT THE INDEPENDENT PRESS proved by the city,” she said, as the meeting report also noted that Elizabeth Irwin, famous ASSOCIATION’S ANNUAL AWARDS DINNER, THE MOST OF ANY PAPER IN THE CITY. of about 50 local citizens whistled and educator and creator of IQ tests, worked at the THE INDYPENDENT THE AWARD WINNERS WERE: clapped in the auditorium of the new P.S. 64 school from 1912 to 1921. Lenina Nadal 1st Place Best Article on the Arts school on E 10th St., one block from the orig- In the 1960s and 1970s, the school fell Sarah Stuteville 1st Place for best feature inal building on E 9th St. into disrepair and was closed, and was soon Singer was unavailable for comment. taken over by drug dealers. In the late 1970s, Bennett Baumer 2nd Place Best Investigative News Story The controversy surrounding the old P.S. a group of young Latinos who called them- Ryan Dunsmuir, Jed Brandt & James Powell 2nd Place Best Overall Design 64 building began in 1998 when Singer selves CHARAS began building it into the DECEMBER 22, 2004 – JANUARY 11, 2005 Irina Ivanova 2nd Place Best Article on the Arts bought the property for $3.15 million at a community center that it remained until the Meredith Mandell 2nd Place Best Article on Immigrant Issues city auction. After a prolonged court battle, 1998 auction. Catriona Stuart 2nd Place Best Feature Singer succeeded in evicting “CHARAS/El “It is important to save this building not Catriona Stuart & F. Timothy Martin 3rd Place Best Article on Immigrant Issues Bohio,” the arts and community center that just for the architectural preciousness of it, Steven Wishnia 3rd Place Best Public Affairs Article had resided there for more than two decades. but also because it is a landmark for the com- Last March, Singer announced plans to build munity,” said Lopez, emphasizing there was Leigh Ann Caldwell Honorable Mention Best Investigative News Story a 23-story student residency on the site, anger- much work to be done despite the victory. Yoni Mishal Honorable Mention Best Editorial/Commentary ing many community groups and local citizens. “I will go to Congress and apply for $1 Launched in Sept. 2000, The Indypendent is a not-for-profit, volunteer-based, In response to Singer’s plans, activists at million for this institution,” Congresswoman collectively-run newspaper. Weekly open meetings are held 7 p.m. Tuesdays at our office the East Village Community Coalition Nydia Velazquez told the meeting, “but I (EVCC) compiled a history of the old P.S. 64 must go to them with a specific plan for what

at 34 E. 29 St., 2nd Fl. Next meeting: Jan. 4. For more information, call 212-684-8112. 3 school in an attempt to highlight the historic we want to do.” THANKS, Soldier’s Story NOW A PERILOUS JOURNEY FROM FLATBUSH TO FALLUJA GET LOST AND BACK LEAVES HEROLD NOEL OUT IN THE COLD

BY CHRIS ANDERSON

ot content to simply send its young men (and later young Nwomen) off to fight and die in for- eign , the U.S. government has frequently ignored its returning veter- ans. While the 1944 G.I. Bill has assumed mythical status, other gov- ernment policies toward returning vets have been less inspiring.

WORLD WAR I “BONUS ARMY:” In 1932, tens of thousands of jobless veterans led by a former cannery worker named Walter W. Walters, began arriving in Washington, D.C, to demand pay- ment of a bonus Congress had approved for their service in World War I. Veterans waited nearly two months, but the Senate ultimately failed to ratify the bonus. Major General Douglas MacArthur ordered a force of 600 HEROLD NOEL TAKES A BREAK: “I have an anger problem. I still got that war mentality. soldiers, and tanks to wipe out This whole ordeal is breaking up my family.” PHOTO: ©ANDREW STERN/ANDREWSTERN.NET the veterans camp on July 28. Hundreds were injured and four killed during the course of the day. BY JOHN TARLETON professional help in the past year. However, Noel was a changed man and The New York Times wrote on July Nationally, there are signs of the same prob- found it difficult to keep a steady job, and his 29, “Flames rose high over the our nights before Christmas, former U.S. lem. In Cincinnati, Ohio, Charles Blythe, direc- family slipped through an almost nonexistent desolate Anacostia flats at mid- night and a pitiful stream of Army specialist Herold Noel huddled for tor of the Homeless Veterans Reintegration safety net. refugee veterans of the World War Fwarmth in front of a fire he built for him- Program, says his group is already assisting Tamara started to notice changes in her hus- walked out of their home of the self in Brooklyn’s Prospect Park as tempera- three homeless Iraq and vets, band about a month after they were reunited. past two months, going they knew tures slid toward the single digits. Plagued by and he expects many more to come. “Once “He’d get upset easily. We were arguing all the not where.” nightmares and unable to hold a steady job or they start bringing them home, we’re going time. One time we got in an argument and he get the assistance he needed, he was on the to be flooded with them, just like with put me in the car and drove me to some bushes VIETNAM: verge of losing his wife and three young chil- Vietnam,” says Blythe, a Vietnam-era veteran. and he said he would kill me if I kept arguing Vietnam veterans returned home dren. It wasn’t the homecoming he’d expected According to the National Coalition for with him. I was really scared. He was never like from a brutal war facing a lack of after serving in Iraq last year. Homeless Veterans, nearly 300,000 veterans that before.” government support and desper- “There was one time,” he recalled, “when me are homeless on any given night, and almost Noel still struggles with his rage, but now ately trying to come to grips with and my battle buddies made a fire and we were half of those are Vietnam vets. he disappears when he feels like he is going to Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder sittin’ out there in Iraq and talking about when explode. “I don’t know where he goes,” Tamara (PTSD). Thousands of Vietnam we get home we’re gonna be looked at as A SOLDIER’S STORY says. “He tells me sometimes he has to get vets still suffer from PTSD today. heroes. We’re gonna be in the history books. Noel, 25, was born and raised in Flatbush. He away from it all.” What’s more, tens of thousands Man, half the guys I came back with are going was attending New York City Technical “I have an anger problem. I still got that war of Vietnam veterans have had to through the same thing I’m going through.” College and working as a medical-claims mentality,” Noel says. “You got that anger in deal with the lingering effects of exposure to the chemical defo- According to the Pentagon, 955,000 U.S. processor when he enlisted in the army in you being around all that death. I still have liant Agent Orange. troops have already served in the Afghanistan September 2000. He was attracted by both the nightmares. I’m still paranoid sometimes to and Iraq wars. The experiences of Noel and promised benefits and the chance to “see some walk the street, thinking something is going to GULF WAR I: others like him have many observers worried new scenery.” Noel served in the 3rd Infantry happen… It’s hard to be in a working situa- Repeating the longtime denial of that the country will be inundated by a wave of Division 7th Cavalry as part of the original tion. You’re always on your guard.” the side effects of Agent Orange, returning veterans with no place to go and reel- invasion force, working in fuel resupply. He While Herold sleeps outside and crisscrosses Washington attempted to mount ing from psychological trauma, as happened witnessed the human carnage wreaked by U.S. the city looking for assistance, Tamara is temp- a similar coverup of “Gulf War toward the end of the . bombs soon after he crossed into southern Iraq. ing as a clerk at a hospital and staying at her Syndrome.” Atul Guwande wrote According to a recent study in the New He also watched friends lose life and limb as his sister’s home with the kids. Both Tamara and in Slate Magazine in 1996, Journal of Medicine, up to 17 percent unit was repeatedly ambushed by rebels near Herold are uncertain of what to do next or even “After returning home, American, of troops returning from Iraq “met the Falluja. He left Iraq in August 2003. if their marriage will survive. Both refuse to Canadian, and British veterans screening criteria for major depression, gen- Combat experiences such as Noel’s have a have their children stay in the city’s squalid began reporting a variety of eralized anxiety, or PTSD [post-traumatic strong bearing on whether a veteran develops shelter system. chronic symptoms including stress disorder].” PTSD. The New England Journal study deter- “We’re willing to work,” Tamara says. “We fatigue, joint pain, headache, “The Bush administration didn’t plan going mined that among troops who engaged in just need something temporary so we can get difficulty sleeping, diarrhea, or into the war,” says Paul Reickhoff, Executive more than five firefights while deployed in on our feet.” nausea.” More than 100,000 vet- Director of Operation Truth, a growing online Iraq, the prevalence of post-traumatic stress “They are in a very fragile situation,” says erans are believed to be suffering from Gulf War Syndrome. The con- organization of Iraq veterans. “And they disorder was more than 19 percent. In con- Singh, who is trying to fast-track their case so dition is thought to be a result of haven’t planned for the back end of the war and trast, the rate of PTSD among Vietnam veter- they can get an apartment. the toxic battlefield, the use of the social services that will be needed. It’s an ans is currently 15 percent. “My wife can’t take it anymore,” says Noel. extension of a flawed plan. “ “If you saw the way we slaughtered those “This whole ordeal is breaking up my family.

THE INDYPENDENT experimental vaccines on troops and the military’s large-scale Ricky Singh, of the Brooklyn-based Black people, it was disgusting,” Noel said of the She’s like she needs to move on with her life. I introduction of depleted uranium Veterans for Social Justice, is also alarmed. His war’s beginning. “There would be little don’t know what to do. munitions. group was helping three Iraq vets a year ago. kids laying down on the floor. Two- or “I walk around crying every day. I feel lost Now, he says it’s assisting 30 Iraq vets, 18 of three-year-olds caught in the crossfire. It in my own land; the land I fought for. I don’t GULF WAR II: whom are homeless, including Noel and his was sickening.” know what to do no more. Sometime I just With the second Gulf War not family and a pregnant woman who is expected While Noel was trapped in a war zone, the feel like picking up a gun and calling it quits even over, George W. Bush has to give birth this month. army mistakenly listed him as AWOL and cut – know what I’m saying? But, something’s closed seven veterans hospitals “We know this is the tip of the iceberg, off his pay, causing him to lose his home in Fort got to get better. I didn’t just risk my life for and cut veterans health benefits. because vets tend to be a group that doesn’t Stewart, Georgia. Upon returning, he moved nothing.” Noel paused, unsure if he believed Bush’s budget for 2006 is seek out help,” Singh told The Indypendent. The into a trailer off-base with his wife, Tamara, what he was to say next. “There’s a God out expected to cut funds for Veterans New England Journal study found that of the and their three young children. When their car there – somewhere.” Affairs by 3.4 percent or roughly DECEMBER 22, 2004 – JANUARY 11, 2005 veterans who met the criteria for a mental dis- died and he was no longer able to commute to For more information, contact Black Veterans for $1 billion.

4 order, less than 40 percent reported receiving work, they decided to move back to New York. Social Justice at bvsj.org or 718-852-6004. news PAT RIOT ACT II IS HERE IN BRIEF THE CIA AND THE NSF: TOGETHER AT LAST The Electronic Privacy Information Center has obtained documents show- ing that the Central Intelligence Agency BY MIKE BURKE and the National Science Foundation jointly funded the development of soft- With little debate and almost ware designed to spy on chat rooms. The objective of the project, housed at no media attention, Congress Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, New York, was to create a “fully has enacted a sweeping expan- automated surveillance system for data collection and analysis in Internet sion of the Patriot Act as part chat rooms to discover hidden groups.” More than $157,000 was of the Intelligence Reform and provided to the two researchers devel- Terrorism Prevention Act that oping the spying software. was signed into law Dec. 17. CALIFORNIA TO SUE FEDS OVER ABORTION FUNDING BAN As the media focused on the bill’s creation of a eral courts that this approach to identifying California Attorney General Bill national intelligence director post, lawmakers supporters of terrorism largely amounts to Lockyer said on Dec. 8 that he will sue inserted numerous provisions that radically guilt-by-association. the federal government to block con- expand the government’s policing powers – To make matters worse, efforts were made gressional legislation halting federal and even set up a possible system for the gov- to dilute any oversight of the new national funds to states that enforce laws pro- ernment to track citizens electronically by fed- intelligence director, who will be appointed tecting reproductive rights. The Weldon eralizing driver’s licenses and embedding them by the president to oversee the nation’s 15 Amendment to the $388 billion spend- with radio frequency identification chips. spy agencies. ing bill passed by Congress in The full implications of the legislation are The bill creates a Privacy and Civil November would block any monies NIK MOORE: indyartsnyc.org from going to federal, state or local still unknown. According to Sen. Robert Liberties Oversight Board, but the White agencies that act against doctors or Byrd (D-W.Va.), the Senate approved the bill House-appointed board will be nearly pow- insurance companies because they by a vote of 98-2 without completely review- The bill authorizes the government to spy erless and without subpoena power. don’t provide abortions, make refer- ing its contents. How could they, he asked, on any non-citizen that it considers a terrorist “It’s a civil liberties board in name only,” said rals or cover them. The bill could block when they received the final 615-page ver- suspect. Until now the government had to former Congressman Bob Barr. “It’s hollow. It’s California from receiving federal funds sion less than 24 hours before the vote? prove to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance probably worse than having nothing at all for education, labor, health and human “This reminds me of how the Patriot Act Court that any subject of surveillance had ties because it gives the appearance of having one.” services. Lockyer called the legisla- itself was enacted: in haste, with insufficient to a terrorist organization or a foreign power. The Senate had voted to create an tion “a backdoor attempt to overturn review, and with no real understanding of its Anyone arrested on terrorism charges will Inspectors General post to act as a watch- Roe Vs. Wade.” true consequences,” Byrd said. now be automatically denied bail and jailed dog, but this provision was stripped out of Sen. Russ Feingold (D-Wisc.), who was the until trial. Previously the government had to the final bill. EPA DESCENDING only senator to vote against the Patriot Act prove that suspects were either a flight risk or And even Congress can’t expect to get INTO THE MUCK three years ago, threw his support behind the dangerous before they could be denied bail. straightforward answers from the new intelli- A new Environmental Protection Agency intelligence reform bill, but was highly criti- The bill also broadens the definition of gence czar – any testimony the director gives policy will allow sewer operators to cal of certain provisions that were unsuccess- what constitutes material support to a ter- must first be approved by the White House dump inadequately treated sewage into fully proposed in 2003 as Patriot Act II. rorist organization, despite rulings by fed- Office of Management and Budget. the water whenever it rains or snows. In a reversal of previous policy, sewer operators will now be allowed to release sewage that has only under- gone the first step of treatment if they first person blend it with fully treated sewage. This violates the Clean Water Act, which stipulates that “blended sewage” can only be dumped in emergencies, such as hurricanes or tropical storms. A National Resource Defense Council commissioned study in November Ohio Ends With a Wimper 2003 found that the risks of contract- ing diseases by swimming in waters PROTESTERS DIVIDED AS ELECTORS CAST VOTES receiving blended flows was 100 times as great as when the sewage was fully treated. Americans already suffer 7.1 million cases of mild-to-moderate infec- BY STERLING BROOKS occasional flurries when we arrived at the to the media. We decided to march right capitol. I was surprised to see that there were through the front doors with our banners. tious waterborne diseases every year n Dec. 12, I traveled with five oth- almost no police present or any police equip- Fox and ABC followed our every move. Once and 560,000 moderate-to-severe cases. ers from Manhattan to Columbus, ment, such as barricades or communications we got up the steps a few state troopers RENTALS OUT OOhio, to participate in the “Hands vehicles. Some media outlets were there, blocked our way. They said we couldn’t enter OF REACH OF POOR Around the State House” action planned for however, including Indymedia, NBC, Fox with our signs and banners. Their numbers In only four of the nation’s 3,066 coun- the next day. and some print media. were few, but so were ours. We decided not to ties can someone working 40 hours at Twenty Republican electors were scheduled Unfortunately, there was no sign of a press the issue. The electors were already minimum wage afford the rent and util- to climb the steps of the state capitol building demonstration. We immediately phoned some upstairs committing their fateful deeds. ities on a one-bedroom apartment, on Dec. 13 and cast the decisive Electoral contacts in Ohio who told us that everyone Although we knew Columbus had a limited according to a report of the National College votes for President despite the fact that was at the hearing at City Hall and that it was ability to muster a New York City-style police Low-Income Housing Coalition. In addi- the Ohio recount was not complete and there hard to convince people to give up their com- presence rapidly, we never expected there to be tion, over 80 percent of all renters live THE INDYPENDENT was widespread evidence of election abuses. fortable seats there for the windswept streets so few officers out. We later learned that the in counties where more than two full- Right before we left New York, we learned around the State House. Columbus police definitely did not have the time jobs at minimum wage are that an “emergency hearing” was being called Since it was still early, we decided to go resources to deal with a good-sized demonstra- required to rent a two-bedroom apart- by a number of concerned congresspeople, over to the hearing. There were a couple tion. Their light presence was doubly curious ment. The price of rent rose slightly including John Conyers Jr. (D-Mich) and hundred people there. Some voting technol- because there was a lot of e-mail talk about the faster (2.9 percent) than hourly wages (2.6 percent) last year. Maxine Waters (D-Calif.), and the Rev. Jesse ogy experts and disenfranchised voters were day of action and people were already mobi- DECEMBER 22, 2004 – JANUARY 11, 2005 Jackson. The hearing was scheduled for testifying. The congresspeople and Jesse lized on the ground in Columbus. ILLEGAL STRIP SEARCHES AT Dec. 13 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. – the exact Jackson were also present. After our long Were the authorities so confident that all REAGAN AIRPORT time of the Hands Around the State House drive we felt the environment a bit stuffy dissent would be effectively lured over to the Transportation Security Administration action – at Columbus City Hall, a seven- and longed to be outside directly con- City Hall hearing that they felt no need to employees at the Reagan National minute walk from the capitol building. fronting state power. We hooked up with sully their pompous ceremony with an Airport in Washington, D.C. recently Because the hearing would lure many peo- some other folks and went to join hands unsightly police presence? Perhaps the police told an ABC news affiliate that ple away from the electoral vote ceremony, we around the State House. Due to the size of really were caught off guard and we missed a stripsearches of passengers took place decided that when we got to Columbus we the capitol building and our modest num- great opportunity to sock it to the state. in public stairwells and in an office would work to convince people that the place bers it was not possible to encircle it but we equipped with a video camera. In addi- to be was the State House to protest the cast- had a good demonstration anyway. This was adapted from an article that originally tion, they allege that female travelers ing of the ballots. Lots of drivers honked and gestured in appeared at http://nyc.indymedia.org/feature/ were singled out for searches on the The weather was cold and windy with support and almost all of us gave interviews display/136234/index.php. basis of their breast size. 5 THE INDYPENDENT DECEMBER 22, 2004 – JANUARY 11, 2005 7 10 Years ark volt against the Mexican government on

oung Zapatistas celebrate 10 years of

Guadalajara vs. Global Plutocracy In Guadalajara, Mexico, on May 28, pro- testers confronted a sea of police when they demonstrated against the third annual free-trade summit between European Union and Latin America and the Caribbean. Police brutality was rampant, with protesters severely beaten in the streets and at least 100 people arrested. Iraq On March 19, the day before the anniver- sary of the U.S. invasion of Iraq, thou- sands of Shia and Sunni Muslims protested for an end to the in Baghdad American occupation in a strong show of unity between the two religious groups. New York Resists Republicans From Sept. 2, the Republican Aug. 27 to National Convention elicited a huge, well- organized and energetic protest. Citizens, protesters, anarchists, anti-war folk and veterans came out into the streets to make their voice heard. Midway through the week, Queer Fist, a gay and lesbian direct-action group, staged a kiss-in on Public Library. the steps of the New York The group then marched west towards Times Square, where participants smooched and embraced, causing police jaws to drop. Here, two men exercise their at least one of them right to kiss. Later, (left) ended up on the wrong side of the police’s orange netting. Zapatistas M Y re Jan. 1 in Ovantic, Chiapas, by whacking a piñata (lower center). The indigenous strug- gle continues to emphasize community new cooperatives building. In the past year, have been created, existing hospitals and schools received new supplies from such sponsors as the Basque government, and Radio Insurgente online. But violence went continues, as government forces torched one of the Zapatistas’ central communi- ties, Montes Azules.

©ANDREW STERN/ANDREWSTERN.NET ©ANDREW ANTRIM CASKEY ANTRIM WIKIMEDIA.ESPORA.ORG

guadalajara RAONLINE

new york city

iraq BENEDETTO CAITLIN

ZARAZ.ORG ukraine Though Bush’s election victory and the bloodily smoldering war in Iraq added up to a generally dismal 2004, millions of people continue to resist religious fanaticism, pandemic economic exploitation and ecological disaster.

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venezuela The Year in Revolt The Year 000 “militia” who ’s l over the countryside as it inten- ro ont

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enezuela gai Amnesty International said Israeli army officials “The first explosion I heard was huge, and it tar- e

anukovich and Viktor A. Yushchenko, hundreds of anukovich and Viktor A. Yushchenko, unoff presidential election between Victor F. eports indicate that the Communist Party of Nepal eassert control over the state-run oil industry

fight alongside them. sifies efforts to recruit Nepal’s youth. Led by a shadowy man named Prachanda, the group is esti- mated to have a core15,000 well- of 10,000 to trained fighters and up to 50, told them the tanks shelled an empty building in order to deter the demonstrators from proceeding towards Israeli army positions. Israeli officials alleged that the demonstrators were led by gun- men. Amnesty International delegates and Abeling said they did not see any armed men or hear any gunfire from the Palestinian side. geted the front the demonstration,” photogra- of pher Johannes Abeling stated in an affidavit to the Al-Mezan Center for Human Rights in Gaza. “Then, I heard several explosions and saw people running everywhere. 50 casu- I saw what looked to be about alties (dead and wounded); many of them children. I do not understand why an army has fired missiles into a crowd of peaceful demonstrators. This was a horrible experience.” On May 19, Palestinians marched in Gaza to protest Israeli measures such as detaining teach- ers and children in an orphanage and rounding up Israeli forces all men over 16. A few minutes later, fired at the tank shells and helicopter missiles unarmed demonstrators, killing dozens including many children. Palestine Nepal Nepal’s Maoist rebels,Peru’s modeled on brutal Shining Path guerrillas, have been fighting since 1996 to topple the country’s constitutional monar- chy and establish a communist state. More than Recent 10,000 people have been killed so far. r ar After reports 21 of rampant fraud in the Nov. r Y supportersthousands of Yushchenko flooded Kiev and shut down numerous government offices. It had been poisoned was revealed that Yushchenko with dioxin, possibly at a Sept. 5 dinner with Ukraine’s security agency chief and his first Ukraine’s Supreme Courtdeputy. annulled the election results, be held on and a new election will supportersDec. 26. Yushchenko have formed a Russian- convoy to campaign in the pro-Yanukovich speaking eastern and southern regions, but have been pelted with bottles in some locales. Meanwhile, Russia has accused the United States of meddling in Ukraine’s affairs by spending some $65 million ahead of the election. Even U.S. Rep. Ron Paul (R-TX) criticized the Bush administration for spending taxpayer dollars to elect Yushchenko. Orange Wave in Orange Wave Ukraine

V Rejects Chavez Recall Since populist President Hugo Chavez was elected in 1999, his socialist leanings, support for work- ers’ and campesinos’ rights, and efforts to r have repeatedly who have angered the wealthy, tried to oust him. Chavez supporters turned back a U.S.-supportedmilitary coup in April 2002, and helped defeat a general strike by the elite months signa- While his opponents collected enough later. tures to force a recall election in August. Guerrilla War

6 6 DECEMBER 22, 2004 – JANUARY 11, 2005 11, JANUARY – 2004 22, DECEMBER THE INDYPENDENT THE 8 DECEMBER 22, 2004 – JANUARY 11, 2005 THE INDYPENDENT uganda F ing the ceasefire. ing theceasefire. each sideaccusestheotherofviolat- as and hasnotyetbeenrenewed, r toenablenegotiations.Themost order r Sudan,where Acholiland intosouthern from a “gazettedzone,”stretching within aseriesofceasefires declared making efforts. herpeace- and Bigombehasresumed backtothenegotiatingtable, the rebels Sudanese aidtotheLRAhavebrought inthesuspensionof countries resulting nally displacedpersons. inter- ofthepopulation,were percent people inAcholiland,orastaggering70 July2003estimatedthat800,000 from camps. AHumanRightsWatch report villagersinto"protected" of forcing policy duetothegovernment flict, partly campaignonlyintensifiedthecon- tary Sudan. Themili- LRA basesinsouthern Fist"withtheintentofwipingout Iron launched"Operation Defence Forces same yeartheUgandaPeople’s in2002.The organization” “terrorist Bush administration,labeledtheLRAa People’s LiberationArmy. ofthesecessionistSudanese port toUganda’ssup- Sudan, inresponse from andfinancialsupport arms ued unabatedastheLRAreceived w surrender demanding thattherebels 1994 whenheissuedanultimatum scuttledbyMuseveniin Bigombe were Betty representative government totheirhomes. tainted, unabletoreturn leftshamedand tokill,are often forced indoctrinatedwithfearand given drugs, whoare Thechildren, flict iscentered. muchofthecon- prise Acholiland,where tricts ofGulu,PaderandKitgumcom- dis- mainlyAcholi.Thenorthern dren, r ments. Notoriousforitsbrutality, theLRA r witha Museveni’s seculargovernment hisintentiontoreplace Kony declared Okello,anethnicAcholi. Tito President of theregime power byoverthrowing YoweriPresident Musevenicameto Ugandan aftercurrent ment inthenorth fanaticism andfearsofdisenfranchise- CIVIL WAR 18 YEARSOF eplenishes itsranksbyabductingchil- intheTenegime rooted Command- ecent ceasefire expired onDec.15 expired ecent ceasefire in tomovefreely permitted ebels were ith B talksbetweenthetwo But recent ofthe Museveni, attheprompting Negotiations betweentheLRAand Early inthewar, LRAleaderJoseph eginning inNovember, Museveni in out ofpoliticalinstability, religious (LRA)wasborn Resistance Army in1986,theLord’s ormed

seven days.Yet violencecontin- -IMC Staff cent ofthemchildren,accordingtoRefugeesInternational. receive traumatherapybeforereturningtotheircommunities. soldiers havebeentakentorehabilitationcentersinGulu,wherethey whom havebeenretrievedbytheUPDF. Over10,000formerchild mated 20,000childrenhavebeenabductedbytheLRA,manyof Pader townstoavoidbeingabductedfromtheirvillages.Anesti- kilometers eacheveningtosleepinsheltersGulu,Kitgumand and over30,000“nightcommuters”–childrenwhohikeupto10 water. OthervictimsofthewarincludechildsoldiersLRA miles insearchoffirewoodandafilthypondistheonlysource camps likeBobi,whereAIDSandcholeraarerampant,womenwalk placed 1.6millionUgandans.Manyresideinsqualid,overcrowded sanity returns,”saidMargaret AkulloElem,aLangoleader. norms. We haveresolvedthatwewanttorebuildoursocietyso war. “We have identifiedthecausesofbreakdownsocietal reconstruction, andhighlighteddevastatingpovertyasafactorinthe The Acholi-LangoconferenceinGuluemphasizedreconciliationand NIGHT COMMUTERS safety. OnDec.7,LRAleadersmetadelegationledbytheAcholiking. indicated thattheywillnotdemobilizewithoutassurancesoftheir among thevillagers–andassociatesofLRAleaderJosephKonyhave best positionedtodisseminateamessageofpeaceandreconciliation process. Theculturalleaders,whilelackingformalpoliticalpower, are and therebelLord’s ResistanceArmy(LRA). between thegovernmentalUgandanPeople’s DefenseForces(UPDF) tions” inUganda,havebeentheprimaryvictimsofconflict Gulu town,thelargest cityinnorthernUganda. of Acholi.BobiCamphousessome20,000peopleandislocatednear Obunya toldthetwokings,Won NyaciofLangoandtheRwotAcana conference inNovember. sage ofpeaceandunityattheconclusionafour-day peace-building have bornethebruntofatrocities,aslocaletodeliverames- Uganda. TheleadersofthetwogroupschoseBobi,homethosewho who havebeenatoddsduringthe18yearsofcivilwarinnorthern come thekingsofAcholiandLangopeople–ethnicneighbors onto theredclaytarmacofroad. poured outofmudhutstolinethebarbedwirefence,spillingover entrance, somescramblingontohighbranchesforabetterview. They displaced peoplegatheredintheshadowsofimmensetreeat BOBI, UGANDA—TheresidentsoftheBobiCampforinternally P B money “hasendedup inindividualpockets,”charged Otim. vided justificationfor increasedmilitaryspending.Butmostof this and thewaristheirsurvival,” henoted,addingthatthewarhas pro- ested inthepeaceprocessbecausetheyare doingbusinessinthewar atrocities.” the veryoneswhoaresupposedtoprotect, butinsteadtheycommit threatened himwitharrest,Otimfledthe camp forayear. ians. In2002afterthearmylabeledhim arebelsympathizerand own abusesinthecamps,includinglooting, beatingandrapingcivil- dent atUnyamaCampnearGulu,begandocumentingtheUPDF’s The rebelshavenotbeentheonlyvictimizers.JimmyOtim,aresi- VICTIMIZED FROMALLSIDES Uganda PeaceConferenceStirsHope OO BY HOTOS Y Currently, theLRAconsistsofonlyafewthousandfighters,80per- That isatallorder. Thewarhaskilledtens ofthousandsanddis- The LangoandAcholiaredeterminedtoplayaroleinthepeace The LangoandAcholiethnicgroups,knownas“culturalinstitu- “Your presenceherehascuredourdifferences,” ElderHeadmaster Excitement mountedasyouthperformedatraditionaldancetowel- Many formerchildsoldiers arerecruitedintotheUPDF, raising Otim doubtsthearmy’s commitmenttopeace.“Theyarenotinter- “People havelostconfidenceintheUPDF,” saidOtim.“They’re N EELA G N OHLAND HOSHAL EELA G HOSHAL CIVIL CONFLICTMAYBENEARINGANEND J EREMY K AMPS elders forthetransformationtoremainafterconflictisresolved.” culture.” “This willbeyourrole:totraintheyoungpeoplefeelproudoftheir V drums youplayforceremonies,weddings,mourning?”asked the camps. communities call“ourchildren”backhomefromtheLRAand size theimportanceoftraditionalcultureinwelcomingwhatboth and culturalprideamongyouthaffectedbytheconflict.Theyempha- former childsoldiersandbuildingcenterstodiffusetraditionalvalues The leaderssuggestadifferentsolution:creatingspecialschoolsfor skepticism amongculturalleadersofthegovernment'scommitment. should trytoforgive, sothegoodwillcomeout.” There isalwayssomegood,eveninbadpeople.Andthat’s whywe “Without forgiving oneanother, wecannevermoveanywhere… and acommitmenttosustainabledevelopmentinthenorth. peace process,anendtorecruitmentofchildsoldiersbybothsides, ence, callingforablanketamnesty, aroleforculturalleadersinthe in someyearswhenthingscalmdownhecancomebackheretodie.” Angelo Banya,anAcholileader, saidKony should“gotoKenyaand an apologytothecommunity. mony thatincorporatesacknowledgmentofwrongscommittedand Komahech, advocatinginsteadatraditionalUgandancleansingcere- Court innorthernUganda,”assertedphilosophyprofessorDaniel LRA leadership.“ThereisnoneedforanInternationalCriminal Lango andAcholi,however, havecalledfor amnestyextendingtothe Criminal CourttoinvestigateiftheLRAisguiltyofwarcrimes.The In December2003theUgandangovernmentaskedInternational A PLEAFORRECONCILIATION ictoria Nalongo,chieforganizer ofthepeacebuildingconference. Government negotiatorBettyBigombeadded,“We mustlookto “A boywhogrowsupinthe[camps],willheknowdifferent “We allsharethesameproblems.We allwantpeace,”saidElem. The LangoandAcholiissuedacommuniquéatthepeaceconfer- Some UgandanssayevenKonyshouldnotbetriedorpunished.Dr. THE INDYPENDENT DECEMBER 22, 2004 – JANUARY 11, 2005 9 Kurdistan has its own thing going on. In Kurdistan has its own thing JT: Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld and Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld JT: officials talk about the other top military a “tipping point” where importance of reaching is going to endure people feel like the occupation go with the side and succeed and will want to tipping point that seems to be winning. Is that reachable, or is it a desert mirage? is a mirage. I think Rumsfeld CP: I think it’s was a year- right about that, but that moment when the and-a-half ago. There was a moment and were Iraqis were looking at the situation out?” “What like, “How is this going to sort really headed?” side do I take?” “Where is it own de facto the south, the Shi’ites have their American proj- state. But in central Iraq, the Green Zone – ect looks pretty bankrupt. The – gets mortared the heart of American power think the psychological So I don’t every day. tipping point is going to tip in the United States’ direction. I think it has tipped away from the United States. The Iraqis are starting to think the United States will never leave. that influence their actions? How will JT: some people, it will For to say. hard CP: It’s cause them to join the resistance because they see the United States as the cause of their dis- satisfaction: the United States policing cities, humiliating people, shooting people at check- points by mistake. All the routine depredations of military occupation. They see that as the cause of the violence and they really want it to support the stop. Even the people who don’t resistance and are glad Saddam is gone would “The United States just has to leave the say, cities. They can have their bases and the oil, but be they have to leave the cities. They can’t policing these cities.” They hate that. If the leave the cities, I imagine United States doesn’t people will resist them more and more. hich was billed as really coming to the fore. As for the really coming to the fore. As

is y JT: You described Iraq as a failing state mired in Iraq as a failing state mired described You JT: do you expect elections to look total chaos. What like in January? are making a CP: It seems like the Shi’a their agenda. move to get power to pursue going to understandable, but that’s That’s the Sunni and exacerbate tensions between been as great as the Shi’a, which have never and has been portrayed by U.S. policymakers in Iraqi soci- the press. But now that fissure et elections, I don’t think they will be free and think they will elections, I don’t its The United States will be pursuing fair. will be boy- agenda. The main Sunni parties and lots of vio- cotting and there will be lots to legitimize the lence. It will be an attempt whole occupation of Iraq, w at first and isself-defense by the United States of mercy and now described as a mission democratization. For this very expensive, very dangerous, insane imperial project to it has to have legiti- have any longevity, These elections are window dressing macy. so that American taxpayers will continue to pay $4-5 billion per month and accept thou- sands of maimed young people every year. States break the back of the Did the United JT: resistance in Falluja? CP: Apparently not. They exacerbated the situation. They alienated people. They prob- ably inflicted damage on the resistance and they’re continuing to do so. But they are also recruiting people for the resistance when they destroy a city like Falluja, when they bomb mosques, when they allow Marines to camp in and shit and piss in mosques and traipse their bloody boots across mosques. That drives Iraqis insane with rage, and it means more people will join the resistance. 11am • Free orkshop: Guided Meditation for Activist omen’s Poetry Open-Mike Jam & Women’s bluestockings W Featuring: Deborah Landau and Clare Ultimo W Living Establishing a spiritual practice of meditation works to fortify one’s inner self and builds a firm foundation of peace from which one can effect personal and global change. Join Jennifer Edwards and a bunch of dedicated social justice activists for a meditation designed for you. ------DECEMBER 27TH MONDAY, @ 7pm • Free Discussion Series: Bluestockings Revolutionary Potluck Escape, Exodus, and Secession (or “Should I Flee The U.S.A.?”) Please join us in the second of a series of monthly revolutionary potluck dis- cussions in which the ‘potluck’ refers not to food but to a smorgasbord invite all who of ideas. We wish to present responses to these questions to come with a prepared 3- 5-minute presentation, and hope that all will participate in the open dis- cussions that follow. ------DECEMBER 28TH TUESDAY, @ 7pm • $3 to $5 Suggested SUNDAY, DEC 26TH SUNDAY, @ radical bookstore | activist center | fair trade cafe Afterward, we talked about what lies ahead “This is a classic case of an imperial elite 172 Allen St. • 212.777.6028 • .bluestockings.com 172 in the coming months for the Iraqis and their U.S. occupiers. taking leave of their senses and doing some- thing that goes against their own interests,” they’ve and strategically, he said. “Tactically gotten every major decision wrong.” recently at the Small Press Book Fair, Parenti recently at the Small Press Book Fair, handling blasted the Bush administration’s of Iraq. . AN INTERVIEW WITH WRITER CHRISTIAN PARENTI PARENTI WRITER CHRISTIAN WITH AN INTERVIEW The Nation IN IRAQ LOOKS BANKRUPT.” . Speaking

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success and helped bring national and international LAST NIGHT AT THE OLD BRECHT FORUM SLIDING SCALE $10-$20 FRIDAY, FRIDAY, DECEMBER 31, 2004 10PM NEW YEAR YEAR NEW D Y B PHOTO: ANTRIM CASKEY During his time in the country, he travelled During his time in the country, with both the U.S. military and the Iraqi resistance, and gained a firsthand look at spiral, which he chronicles downward Iraq’s in his new book, Hallucinations in Occupied Iraq

IRAQ’S DOWNWARD SPIRAL DOWNWARD IRAQ’S C REVIEWS CULTURE, POLITICS AND CRITICISM

Tea, Sympathy form an institute that studied human sexual behavior by meticu- lously interviewing thousands of and Abortions subjects on their personal history. With the release of Sexual Behavior VERA DRAKE in the Human Male in 1948 (later followed by a study on women), (2004) Kinsey’s candid findings shook up DIRECTED BY MIKE LEIGH (125 MIN) an America still fearful and silent about promiscuity, homosexuality s Americans contemplate a and masturbation, acts publicly possible rollback of abor- considered unseemly but discov- Ation rights, British film- ered to be widespread. maker Mike Leigh’s latest film, Kinsey director Bill Condon Vera Drake, portrays a stifling past doesn’t shirk away from his sub- that might portend a repressive ject, boldly and maturely depict- future. Set in post-World War II ing the straitlaced professor and England, the film features a hero- his assistants on their road to self- ine (played astoundingly by Imelda discovery as well as scientific revo- Staunton) who helps “girls in trou- lution. Condon’s effort is com- ble” by administering back-alley mendable at a time when sex is abortions. While Vera’s character still veiled by the extremes of tit- verges on inhumanly perfect and illation and prudishness. It’s a Joe Strummer’s selfless, Leigh explores in depth shame that Kinsey only reveals the the various reasons women seek tip of the iceberg for a body of abortion. Vera’s gentle, under- work considered controversial to Long Shadow standing treatment of impover- this day. The film forces Kinsey’s ished patients (including noncha- life and work to conform to the lantly offering tea) is contrasted format of a biopic, condensing a LET FURY HAVE THE HOUR: with expensive, guilt-inducing 66-year life and an entire society’s legal abortion, a privilege for history of sexual repression into a THE PUNK ROCK POLITICS OF JOE STRUMMER Britain’s upper crust. The authori- two-hour drama. Nevertheless, if EDITED BY ANTONINO D’AMBROSIO NATION BOOKS ties eventually arrest Vera, putting this film is what’s needed to get a her through a court system Leigh serious, national conversation subtly films as crushingly impene- about sex started again, so be it. trable and impersonal. Sadly, but not surprisingly, conser- or a phenomenon spawned by bands that never to the party so you’re not just a lame blackface act.) While Vera Drake demonstrates vative Christian groups are calling cracked the Top 100 and broke up by 1982, Still, it tends to exaggerate the significance of the the hypocrisies of a society that for a boycott of Condon’s film. Fpunk rock has had extraordinary cultural legs, Clash’s connections to Black culture. Yes, the Clash chooses to dismiss the problems of —MICHAEL ROWIN from junior-high-school pop bands to anarchist booked African-American opening acts like access to abortion, the film only crusties. For that, Joe Strummer deserves some Grandmaster Flash and Bo Diddley, but multiracial touches upon the political, reli- posthumous props. The late Clash/Mescaleros front- bills like the Rolling Stones and Stevie Wonder or gious and moral complexities of man played with an intensity, heart, and integrity the Byrds and B.B. King were commonplace in the this hot-button issue. But in its matched by few musicians, and managed the difficult era. And that the Clash copped reggae and hip- second half, Vera Drake transcends trick of creating political art without being pedantic. hop grooves is not such a big deal – how many white its status as a “film about abor- The Multitude Let Fury Have the Hour: The Punk Rock Politics of Joe popular musicians haven’t borrowed from Blacks? tion.” Leigh based the film on his Strummer, edited by Antonino D’Ambrosio (Nation On the other hand, the Clash did emerge at a time family’s experience, and the por- Shall Inherit Books), collects around two dozen pieces on when niche marketing had resegregated popular trayal of the Drake family’s devas- Strummer’s work and politics, from 1977 punk-zine music after the rock’n’soul eruption of the ‘50s and tation and division over Vera’s the Earth interviews to academic-leftist analyses. Chuck D ‘60s. Rock radio stations defined “rock” as “white,” impending incarceration aches cites the Clash as an influence on Public Enemy, and and MTV refused to play videos by black artists (they with personal sadness. In painstak- D’Ambrosio links Strummer’s legacy to that of weren’t “rock”) until 1983, when CBS Records ingly detailing how the police MULTITUDE: South American political songwriters Victor Jara twisted its arm for Michael Jackson’s “Beat It.” And dehumanize a beatific woman pro- WAR AND DEMOCRACY and Caetano Veloso. the Clash’s 1980 rap song “The Magnificent Seven” viding a needed service, Leigh cre- IN THE GE OF MPIRE Deceased rock critic Lester Bangs’ 1977 article is predated the Beastie Boys by half a decade and made ates a powerful amalgam of A E

the best writing here. It’s often self-indulgent – at it onto the air at WBLS-FM, pretty fly for white guys. Hitchcock’s The Wrong Man and – BY MICHAEL HARDT, ANTONIO NEGRI one point, Bangs digresses to note that as he’s get- Let Fury Have the Hour: The Punk Rock Politics of Joe with its shots of a destroyed, suf- 427 PAGES ting paid by the word, “salicylaceous” and “uh” Strummer is a worthy introduction for people less fering innocent – The Passion of THE PENGUIN PRESS (2004) count the same – but it captures the Clash’s passion familiar with Strummer, but there are several factual Joan of Arc. in beatnik Roman-candle prose: Strummer “divest- and tonal errors. It was Johnny Ramone, not the —MICHAEL ROWIN fter its release in paperback ing himself of guitar to fall on one knee in no Elvis more liberal Joey, who said “punks should have no in July 2001, Michael parody but pure outside-of-self frenzy, snarling politics or be right-wing.” (That distinction is AHardt and Antonio Negri’s through his shattered dental bombsite.” Used to a important to anyone who knows the Ramones at Empire quickly achieved the status rock ’n’ roll world where stars would toss groupies all.) And the ’70s New York punk scene was much Let’s Talk of both radical postmodern politi- out of their motels post-blowjob without even giv- less racist than D’Ambrosio implies, in a judgment cal tract and publishing sensation. ing them cabfare, Bangs was pleasantly shocked to based almost entirely on Bangs’ article “The White About Sex “A bold move away from estab- find the Clash letting fans crash on the floor of their Noise Supremacists.” The worst around the lished doctrine,” wrote The Nation. rooms. Yet even as he pronounced the band “right- Clash came when they got big enough to draw “The ‘next big thing,’” added the THE INDYPENDENT KINSEY eous,” he was presciently wondering if they’d still be mainstream American rock fans that booed hip-hop Sunday Times. The zeitgeist able to do that once they got big. and reggae opening acts off the stage. (2004) hung heavy in the air. Not since The book’s political analysis is less satisfying. It Which leads to the main question I wanted this DIRECTED BY BILL CONDON (118 MIN) Foucault’s Discipline and Punish has avoids the usual cliché dogmas of leftist music writ- book to answer: What happens when an artist tries a book been simultaneously so ing: We’re spared postmodernist blather about to be progressive, but they get a reactionary audi- lthough not a household popular and so hard to understand. “ironic subversiveness,” the attitude that any artist ence? As inspiring as the Clash were, that was their name like Freud, Alfred C. The silence you hear now, three- on a major label is automatically a sellout, and the tragedy, and you can feel the disillusionment in AKinsey stands among the and-a-half years later, is the sound double-bind line that white artists influenced by every weary, dolorous note of “Straight to Hell,” 20th-century giants who pio- of the non-reaction to Multitude, Black music are racists ripping off Black culture, from 1982. The answer isn’t in this book, but, in neered the field of sex research in Empire’s sequel. Apart from a few but white artists not influenced by Black music are another context quoted in it, Strummer told an the face of public outcry and at stray reviews (including a bizarre racists ignoring Black culture. (Strummer’s answer interviewer, “It’s not a good idea to run away.” the risk of their professional one by Francis Fukayama in The DECEMBER 22, 2004 – JANUARY 11, 2005 to the latter conundrum: Bring enough of your own —STEVEN WISHNIA careers. A zoologist at Indiana New York Times) Multitude’s release University, Kinsey went on to has garnered little of the excite- 10 THE INDYPENDENT DECEMBER 22, 2004 – JANUARY 11, 2005 11 ARI EDELKIND Sex in the City OWERS P A Gap in A Gap hy are clothing labels and the list of ingredients on hy are clothing labels and the information and the food products the most-needed store on 34th Street, I most hidden? In a glitzy Gap do not see the production process, only the product pres-

ICHOLAS are not meant to see the source of labor; it is a shameful fact are not meant to see the source N

The more I looked the more I realized globalization was not The more I looked the more We In psychoanalysis, labels are defined as a compromise forma- the by As I left the Gap, a classic disco song, “Love Train” a political theater troupe founded in the East Village in 1963 and Y : B disco music and pose in front of watched customers shimmy to the It was as if a Sarah Jessica Parker poster. accessories straight from the crowd came to buy winter While waiting in line, I show. wardrobe room of their favorite origins. Almost all tags read, looked at the labels to see their after label and began to wonder, “Made in China.” I read label is Christmas made in China? but the tinyness of their print. only in the names of the nations We a grim factory and rob the cloth- that if witnessed would expose I took the poster of Sarah Jessica ing of its allure. It was as if was a sweatshop filled with Parker down and hidden behind had swollen-eyed workers who assemble the coats and pants we in our arms. entation. In the gap between how something is made and why entation. In the gap between how something is made and are we buy it is a silence exploited by the ruling elite. Labels Why evidence that clothes do not come from celebrity closets. outsourcing of jobs causes eco- is this important? Our nation’s are nomic anxiety that corporations conceal under ads. Labels the last connective tissue to the truth of labor. an tion, the form taken by a truth distorted by denial into get acceptable sign. Consumer safety groups struggled to from ingredients listed on food labels in order to protect us chemicals. What if we applied this logic every- cancer-causing we where and honestly labeled every object? On milk cartons we would see farmers injecting cows with drugs. On clothes gas would see faces of workers, their hours and wages. On pumps we would see car bombs and dead civilians. the O’Jays sang out “People of the world, join hands, get on that love train.” I thought of a love chain, hand holding hand reached through the Sarah Jessica Parker poster to the sweat- shops behind it. If we pulled the workers from their sewing on machines into the store, how would they rewrite the labels our clothes? W Consciousness based in Glover, Vermont, since 1974, performed since 1974, Vermont, based in Glover, for the New City earlier this month. In this at the Theater scene, from “Daughter Courage,” a show about International Solidarity Movement activist Rachel Corrie, who was killed at the age of 23 as she tried to stop a bulldozer from destroying a home, politicians silently incite symbolized by a bomb. war, THE BREAD AND PUPPET THEATER —C.A ENEDETTO B , introduces ) beautifully por- MIN ROTHELS AITLIN (85 RISKI B B —C ANA Z oving through the blurred, overcrowded streets of Calcutta, NTO AUFFMAN I K Born Into Brothels OSS R Empire, Hardt and Negri argue, Empire, Hardt Born into Brothels The viewer is moved not by a ORN IRECTED BY ondon, made several trips to is still with us. And the multi- is still with is still here too. tude, they add, book oddly, that, however – one our opti- help us regain might differently by thinking mism picture. about the big trays a hopeful social project, while deftly celebrating the children’s photography and their artistic journey without glorifying Briski’s efforts. The dispassionate norms of a fact-filled, hard-hitting docu- mentary are thrown out to create an emotionally moving experience. The success of Born Into Brothels led to Cameras, a the creation of Kids With foundation that has started additional projects in Haiti, Palestine and Cairo. Cameras Information about Kids With and upcoming screenings of Born into Brothels can be found at http://kids- with-cameras.org. sense of pity for the children, but by a sense of desperate compassion to see them escape the brothels. The strong individual personali- ties of the children propel the nar- rative. They work and learn, pro- ducing photographs impressive enough to be auctioned at So why in New York. Sotheby’s are these capable and bright chil- dren any different then other chil- dren in Calcutta? Briski visits office after office in Calcutta, try- ing to secure the papers needed to get the kids into school. She then visits school after school that will not accept them because they are children of sex workers. , and its dirty, hostile red- India, and its dirty, light district, Zana Briski and new documen- Ross Kauffman’s tary, us to eight intelligent, witty chil- dren who become engaged with Briski, the art of photography. who was born and studied in L India to document prostitution and female infanticide in Calcutta. In the brothels, she came to know children whose curiosity inspired her to abandon her own photo- graphic projects in order to teach them. The film documents this project and its potential to give the children a way out of the brothels. The desperate situation they are in is in no way mitigated by the upbeat and colorful nature of the film. Familial violence and heavy household chores are clearly illustrated both in video and the which photographs, children’s form integral grounding points in the film by bringing their lives into focus. Pics not Tricks in Calcutta Brothels B (2004) D AND M open-

’s tendency . Indeed, the as a Multitude isn’t whether it’s isn’t relevant? The answer, is actually a much better is actually a much : the rise of immaterial Multitude ithin the framework of this The Times New York Multitude W None of this, of course, really The idea of Empire While everything might not While everything might Obviously engaged with such Their answer, not surprisingly, Their answer, e impact of September 11 and the illepin, and the editorial board ing section, “War.” The authors ing section, “War.” that the state of perpetualargue war currently gripping the globe is really the symptom of a global civil war fought “within a single sovereign territory.” unilateral U.S. global civil war, military action in Iraq can be seen as merely an aberration in a geopolitical process. longer-term estimate, By Hardt and Negri’s the true exemplars of the imperial mentality during the run-up to war with Iraq were Brent French Scrowcroft, John Kerry, Ambassador Dominique de V of rather than a catch-all explanatory factor is the key to understanding of a second important argument Multitude labor and the system-spanning changes that result from this growth. For Hardt and Negri, immaterial labor – “labor that cre- ates immaterial products, such as knowledge, information, commu- nication, a relationship, or an emotional exchange” – is the dominant trend within the world of production. answers the question posed above: is American project in Iraq is failing precisely because the Bush admin- istration chose to ignore its impe- rial advisors. in the end, might go something as relevant as you like this: It’s it doesn’t want it to be. Certainly, roll out a roadmap for how to get the United States out of Iraq, and even offer much guid- it doesn’t ance on how to survive the next four years under Bush. It is, how- an intelligent and inspiring ever, good, or inspiring – it is both – good, or inspiring – it is both relevant to a but whether it’s world that seems very different four from the one it confronted years ago. 11 have changed after September to be (indeed, much still seems a few about the same, only worse), things certainly did, among them, the intellectual market for radical theoretical treatises proclaiming the end of 20th-century imperial- ism and the nation-state. The even in muttering is easy to hear, the bowels of the so-called anti- globalization movement: Empire is out. Imperialism (and its inevitable counterpoint, national resistance) is back in. One look at Iraq seems to confirm the obvious. criticisms, Hardt and Negri tackle th “war on terror” in ment accorded its predecessor, at its predecessor, ment accorded a States. It’s the United least in it turns out, because as shame, Multitude need to painstak- book. Free of the the legal and eco- ingly outline of Empire, Hardt nomic contours now able to get and Negri are problem that really down to the identifying the interests them: political subject transcendental global that will resist Empire’s network. active is “the multitude”: “an on the social subject,” which acts basis of “what the singularities share in common.” The question about on the street

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CALENDAR Theater for the New City, 155 1st Ave. b/w 9 & 10 Sts. www.lissamoira.com THE INDYPENDENT is 'borderless'? 'Potluck' refers not to food injustices of imperialism and beckoning your town poetry, dance, music and multimedia. has open meetings every Tuesday at but to a smorgasbord of ideas. We invite all conscience to join the revolution for a free Featuring over 150 performers, including to present responses to the above questions world - one where our politicians are forced Penny Arcade, Eric Bogosian, Philip Glass, TUES JAN 11 7p.m. at 34 E. 29th St., 2nd floor. to come with a prepared 3-5 minute presen- to meet our demands for reform. Tuli Kupferberg and Patti Smith. 8 p.m. - 12 a.m. • Free tation, and hope that all will participate in Bowery Poetry Club, 308 Bowery St. Mark's Church, 131 E. 10th St. REALITY CHECK RECORDS the open discussion that will follow. www.bowerypoetry.com www.poetryproject.com ALBUM RELEASE PARTY Bluestockings, 172 Allen St. You've read recently in THE INDY how ENTIRE MONTH www.bluestockings.com THU DEC 30 2 p.m. – 12 a.m. • FREE underground hip-hop artist, U.S., pushes OF DECEMBER 6 p.m. – 8:45 p.m. • Free TOTAL ECLIPSE: THE 11TH ANNUAL ALTER- the boundaries of hip-hop and drives ANNUAL NEW YORK CARES COAT DRIVE WED DEC 29 B-BOY/B-GIRL CLASSES EVERY THURSDAY NATIVE NEW YEAR'S DAY SPOKEN the Movement with his latest album, THE New York Cares hopes to collect and distrib- 7 p.m. • $8 Learn break dancing, popping, locking and WORD/PERFORMANCE EXTRAVAGANZA NECESSARY EVIL. Now come cop the album ute 70,000 warm winter coats. 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L to Myrtle and Wycoff; transfer to Bowery Poetry Club, 308 Bowery (b/w Bleecker & OPEN HOUSE & NY Port Authority Bus Terminal. M to Forest Ave. Walk 1 block. Houston) NYC Indymedia will host an open house at 212-402-1173 or www.nycares.org 8 p.m. – 9:45 p.m. • $6 (718) 456-KIDS www.alternativespokenword.com or (212) 614-0505. our office on 34 E29th Street. Reps from DANIEL JOSE CUSTODIO’S BRAZILIAN BOOK our print, video, web, & tech working groups THU DEC 23 AND MUSIC PARTY FRI DEC 31 DEC 16 – JAN 20 will be on hand to answer questions 2 – 7 p.m. • Free Guaraná Poet: The Taste of Truth, is com- 7 p.m. • Free 1 p.m. – 3 p.m. • Free Don’t hate the media, become the media! FEED THE NEEDY prised of 33 poems that will spark the dwin- CRITICAL MASS – THE NEW YEAR’S RIDE NAVIGATING THE SPACE BETWEEN Serve dinner to members of our community dling flame of revolution in our society. 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