Flyby News Home - Flyby News Archives - Casinni NoFlyby - Flyby Links

Flyby  News

"News Fit to Transmit in the Post Cassini Flyby Era"




Free at last * Clemency Campaign * Star Wars Boosters * Star Wars Postcards

FREE AT LAST

Can a seed wither into the dust of despair
and if truth than be neglected, then tell me why,
can a man speaking out with a righteousness really die,
was not Martin Luther King Jr. wise?

My life is inspired by a few and to those I congratulate and continue
to breathe the air and receive its gifts,
nourishing the cells with a spritual lift.

but when confusion enters into the night,
we must go to the center of love not fright,
For in ideals of freedom we will last forever in realms of wisdom,
loving one another.

Life is thus, a series of attitudes, bringing peace war or feuds,
but by keeping the dignity of what is right, we cannot be discouraged by a brother's soulful flight.

Jonathan Mark 6/15/76

* * * * * * * * *

Please consider reading/signing the online petition:

"Include Native Americans In MTV's Anti-Hate Crimes Campaign"

http://www.PetitionOnline.com/ffyrna/

===================================================================

1) Countdown to Peltier Clemency Campaign
1992 Boston City Council Resolution

2) In the The Nation: "Star Wars Boosters"

3) International Star Wars Postcard Campaign

**********************************************************************

1) Countdown to Peltier Clemency Campaign
1992 Boston City Council Resolution

We were hoping for an announcement from President Clinton today, on Martin Luther King Day. But no word so far. This is President Clinton's last week in office to show his real character. Can he stand up while threatened with criminal investigations by a new Administration that would nominate a conservative rightist for Attorney General? Please support the campaign to stand up to Injustice.

Fwd From: "chris groden"
Subject: text of 1992 Boston City Council Resolution
Date: Sat, 13 Jan 2001 02:24:54

Please contact Chuck Turner and other BCC members and ask them to re-affirm this resolution.
Charles.Turner@ci.boston.ma.us chuckturneroffice@yahoo.com
(617)635-3510/4203FAX (617)427-8100/442-9404FAX
[Also consider emailing it to president@whitehouse.gov ]


City of Boston

in City Council

RESOLUTION OF COUNCILLOR SCONDRAS

WHEREAS Leonard Peltier,an influential leader in the American Indian Movement,was convicted of the murders of two FBI agents; and

WHEREAS The US Government admits that the affidavits which were used to arrest and extradite Peltier were false and that Peltier's shell casings did not match the bullets which killed the agents; and

WHEREAS The misconduct and judicial impropriety,such as coertion of witneses,perjury,evidence fabrication,and supression by the FBI and the Government,is clearly an abuse of the moral standards of American Justice; and

WHEREAS Worlwide,numerous and respectable law,religious,and political groups, including fifty-five members of the US Congress and sixty members of the Canadian Parliament, have filed"Friends of the Court "briefs calling for a re-evaluation of Peltier's case; and

WHEREAS Boston, as a capital city for one of the thirteen original founding constitutional states, is a symbol of the basis of American law and judicial order and observed by the media nationwide; Now, Therefore, Be it Resolved That the Boston City Council, in meeting assembled does hereby call for an investigation of the judicial improprieties involved with the conviction of Leonard Peltier and urge the commutation of Peltier's sentence to end these past sixteen years of injustice.

# # # # # # # # #

Support the Countdown to Clemency Campaign for Leonard Peltier

Send an E-mail: president@whitehouse.gov

Send a FAX:
http://www.globalexchange.org/campaigns/usa/peltier/getInvolved.html

Online Petition:
http://www.petitiononline.com/Clemency/petition.html

Also, consider getting a video tape of the May 2000 Peltier Congressional Briefing for yourself and community access tv. Send $15 to the Leonard Peltier Defense Committee; P.O. Box PO Box 583 Lawrence, KS 66044. It runs about 45 minutes and powerfully gives the message from people who bore witness to a reign of terror, and who stand with Leonard in eloquence and dignity.

For more information contact the Leonard Peltier Defense Committee (LPDC) (785)842-5774. http://www.freepeltier.org . Leonard Peltier's book, Prison Writings: My Life Is My Sun Dance, is available from bookstores, libraries and the LPDC.

Check out "In the Spirit of Crazy Horse - Free Leonard Peltier"
the donated artwork of Lahri Bond, $10 lithographic prints available

http://earthlovers.org/leonard/

**********************************************************************

2) In the The Nation: "Star Wars Boosters"


Appearing in the current issue of The Nation, January 29, 2001

Star Wars Boosters

As soon as George W. Bush and Dick Cheney take up the reins of government, they'll give a big boost to waging war in and from space. Under their leadership, right-wing advocates of US global dominance and corporations eager for contracts will join forces with a military eager to make space the battleground of the twenty-first century.

Indeed, Star Wars--"missile defense" in the current Newspeak--is emerging as a central goal of the new Bush Administration. It is "an essential part of our strategic system," declared Colin Powell immediately upon being named as Bush's Secretary of State.

"I wrote the Republican Party's foreign policy platform," declared Bruce Jackson, vice president of corporate strategy and development at Lockheed Martin, the world's largest weapons manufacturer [see William D. Hartung and Michelle Ciarrocca, "Star Wars II," June 19, 2000], which is deeply involved in space military programs. In a recent interview, Jackson said that although he was "the overall chairman of the Foreign Policy Platform Committee" at the Republican National Convention, he hasn't led the advocacy for the full development of Star Wars because "that would be an implicit conflict of interest with my day job" at Lockheed Martin.

Such advocacy, he said, has fallen to Stephen Hadley, George W. Bush's pick for deputy director of the National Security Council. Hadley, Bush Senior's assistant secetary of defense for international security policy and a member of his National Security Council, is a proud member of the Vulcans, an eight-person foreign policy team formed during the Bush campaign that includes future National Security Council director Condoleezza Rice and Reagan administation superhawk Richard Perle. The Vulcans named themselves after the Roman god of fire and metalwork and for a statue in Rice's hometown, Birmingham, Alabama, commemorating its steelmaking history.

Besides being a Vulcan, Hadley is a partner in Shea & Gardner, the Washington law firm representing Lockheed Martin. Hadley has also worked closely with Jackson on the Committee to Expand NATO--based in the offices of the right-wing American Enterprise Institute--Jackson as president, Hadley as secretary. The committee sought to enlist Eastern European countries into NATO and, of course, build the client base for Lockheed Martin weapons.

"Space is going to be important. It has a great future in the military," Hadley told the Air Force Association Convention in a September 11 speech. Introduced as "an advisor to Governor George W. Bush," Hadley said that Bush's "concern has been that the [Clinton] Administration... doesn't reflect a real commitment to missile defense. This is an Administration that has delayed on that issue and is not moving as fast as he thinks we could."

To remedy that, Bush has named as Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld--a man whom the Washington Post calls the "leading proponent not only of national missile defenses, but also of U.S. efforts to take control of outer space" [see Michael T. Klare, page 14]. In 1998 Rumsfeld's commission reversed a 1995 finding by the nation's intelligence agencies that the country was not in imminent danger from ballistic missiles acquired by new powers, declaring that "rougue states" did pose such a threat. The answer? Missile defense. Trusted adviser to and financial supporter of the right-wing Center for Security Policy, Rumsfeld has been awarded its Keeper of the Flame prize. The center's advisory board includes such Star Wars promoters as Edward Teller--and, of course, Lockheed Martin executives, including Bruce Jackson.

"This so-called election was a victory for putting weapons in space, at enormous cost to US taxpayers and to world stability," declares Bruce Gagnon, coordinator of the Florida-based Global Network Against Weapons & Nuclear Power in Space (www.space4peace.org). He points to Bush campaign statements about deploying "quantum leap weapons" and about Los Alamos and Sandia National Laboratories playing a major role in the development of "weapons that will allow America to define how wars are fought." Both labs have been deeply involved in space-based lasers, an integral part of Star Wars. In 1998 the Defense Department signed a multimillion-dollar contract for a "Space-Based Laser Readiness Demonstrator" and this past November solicited final comments on development of the program, estimated to cost between $20-$30 billion. Lockheed Martin, TRW and Boeing are the contractors. (Lynne Cheney has just resigned from the board of Lockheed Martin, Dick Cheney has been a member of the board of TRW.)

The military's would-be space warriors, meanwhile, are bullish. The U.S. Space Command's top general, Ralph "Ed" Eberhart, exhorts the Air Force to "be the space warfighters our nation needs today...and will need even more tomorrow." The Air Force command's "Almanac 2000" touts "defending America through the control and exploitation of space." The Air Force in the 2lst Century must be "globally dominant -- Tomorrow's Air Force will likely dominate the air and space around the world."

The Vulcans, Keepers of the Flame and Lockheed Martin et al. will be cheering them on.

Karl Grossman and Judith Long

Karl Grossman is the author of the forthcoming Weapons in Space (Seven Stories) and the new TV documentary Star Wars Returns (EnviroVideo 800-ECO-TV46). Judith Long is The Nation's copy editor.

**********************************************************************

3) International Star Wars Postcard Campaign


The Yorkshire Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND) has initiated a postcard campaign throughout the United Kingdom urging George W. Bush to back away from Star Wars. One side of their card has a photo of a Star Wars
protest at Fylingdales (U.S. radar facility in their country.)

Groups all over the world are urged to create similar postcards to Bush for distribution in your nation.

Not only would this effort help to flood the White House with messages from all over the world, but it would also help to focus attention on the issue in your country as the cards are distributed. (Please let us know if you decide to join this effort from overseas.)

The Global Network has produced such a postcard for distribution throughout the U.S. The cards contain a "Ban War in Space" photo message on one side and a written message to Bush on the other.

Bulk postcard orders can be made as follows (prices include postage):

* 25 cards $3.00
* 60 cards $7.00
* 120 cards $12.50
* 240 cards $25.00
* more Negotiable

Send your order, along with check made out to GN, to address below:

Global Network Against Weapons & Nuclear Power in Space
PO Box 90083
Gainesville, Fl. 32607
(352) 337-9274
http://www.space4peace.org
globalnet@mindspring.com

**********************************************************************

Email address: