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Corporate War on the People

Youth/ Disabled/  Gay news

Resistance in the War
Against the Poor

OTHER WINTER 2008 ARTICLES

In Dec. 2006 the Berger Commission announced plans to close hospitals throughout New York State.  The Communications Workers of America (CWA work in the hospitals. They mobilized across the state to build community and get political support to keep the hospitals open.

They collected tens of thousands of “We Believe” and “Save Our Emergency Room” postcards. They held news conferences and rallies. Braving the cold, rain and driving winds, they marched 300 miles. They walked from Buffalo to the state capitol in Albany. They wanted to show legislators that they were determined to keep the hospitals open.

            The NY Dept. of Health has now announced that St. Joseph Hospital in Buffalo and DeGraff Memorial in North Tonowanda will remain open. They will be acute care and emergency facilities. The state will also provide grants to relocate the services of Millard Fillmore Gates Hospital. They will be provided at Buffalo-Niagara Medical Campus. The hospital made a committment that “No jobs will be lost.”

After the court ruled against a retrial for Lt. Ehren Watada on Oct. 8, a support rally turned into a joyous celebration. Watada refused deployment to Iraq. He stated that the war is an illegal one. He is the first high-ranking officer to do so.

Watada’s court-martial trial was declared a mistrial last year. Judge Settle ruled that the US Army’s attempt to retry Watada violates the law of double jeopardy.

The victory celebration took place in San Francisco Chinatown’s Portsmouth Square park. Artist Betty Kano encircled the speakers’ podium with a traditional drum-call. Poets and members of the Chinese community spoke at the rally.

Conscientious objectors are known in wartime. But conscientious rejecters—especially among the officer class—are relatively new. Ehren Watada’s example is being seen as a heroic breakthrough in anti-war activities.

AIDS advocates have been orgainizing for 18 months to win housing benefits for all New Yorkers living with AIDS. They held a press conference on the steps of City Hall.Then they packed the City Council balcony shouting “HASA for All Act”. The bill has passed the first hurdle.

            The act would extend HIV/AIDS Services Administration (HASA) benefits to all poor New Yorkers living with HIV. This includes enhanced rental assistance. Currently only people with an AIDS diagnosis are eligible. Without HASA, some people are ending up in shelters. And mothers are losing custody of their kids. People have to let themselves get sick to qualify for HASA housing. The HASA for All Act would help 7,000 people.

            HASA was sent to the General Welfare Committee. The next step is to urge them to hold hearings on it. Mayor Bloomberg is opposed to it. But recent studies show that housing stability promotes adherence to life-saving meds. And it reduces risk behavior.  Advocated  argue that access to housing will prevent new HIV transmissions and save money in the long run.

On Dec. 1 everybody in Rhode Island could ride city buses for free. It was Rosa Parks Human Rights Day. Rosa Parks, a Black woman, refused to give up her bus seat to a white man in 1955. This action launched a struggle that won equality on southern buses and trains.

            The Providence Rosa Parks Human Rights Day Committee has held commemorations each Dec. since 2005. This year over 60, mostly Black, people attended a Human Rights in Rhode Island conference. They discussed strategies for fighting back against state budget cuts. They will march on the State House on April 8. That is the anniversary of the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. And it is the 40^th anniversary of the Poor Peoples Campaign.

            Activists said that the number of people in prison in RI has increased by 700% in the last 20 years. The rate of incarceration for Black males is eight times that of white males.

            Environmental racism --lead paint poisoning and asthma from rats, roaches and pollution--are the leading causes of school absence. Schools are built on top of toxic waste sites.

            Hunger has increased yet Rhode Island is cutting back on food stamp workers. Community activist Asata Tigrai said that these conditions can all be traced back to the money that is going to kill people in Iraq.

            Jasmine Woodbury is youth organizer for DARE youth. They are training youths as organizers and activists. They learn political terms, public speaking, media and information on great civil rights leaders like Rosa Parks. They organized to change the school disciplinary code to reduce the number of suspensions.

“Everything but Champagne was running. People were shouting in the halls at the courthouses,” said attorney Deborah Trent. Judge Mary Beth Kelly announced on Nov. 13 that she would resign as Circuit Court Chief Judge in Wayne County.

Trent is a family law practitioner with Black Attorneys United for Justice. Along with thousands she campaigned for Kelly’s removal since 2004.

            In  2004, Judge Deborah Thomas declared that the county was systematically eliminating Blacks from jury pools. Kelly attempted to remove Thomas from the criminal court bench. Then Kelly attacked the centuries-old right of defendants to habeas corpus. (The right to appear before a judge to challenge the legality of confinement). She limited the writs to one assigned judge per week. She also ordered that all challenges to jury composition be heard by herself, not the sitting judge.

            Kelly cut the percentage of Black attorneys representing children in juvenile court from 82% to 25%. She tried to privatize the Friend of the Court. She ordered that Thomas not be allowed to hear pre-trial motions in her own cases.

            In Sept. thousands marched outside the all-white state Judicial Tenure’s Commission. They were considering charges against Thomas. Students held a rally inside the Coleman A. Young Municipal Center (CAYMC). One student said, “This is our Jena 6.” And members of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees marched outside of CAYMC.                 

            Attorney Alice Jennings said, “What this means is that people in the community can make a change. By educating, using legal challenges and being front-line soldiers, we are voting with our feet.”

~ The Michigan Citizen

Victory for AIDS Victims—Almost

The US Patent & Trademark Office (USPTO) has rejected four HIV/AIDS drug patents of Gilead Sciences. This is good news for the 40 million people with HIV/AIDS worldwide. They can’t afford brand-name antiretroviral drugs. Gilead wants a patent for Tenofovir (brand name Viread--part of the Atripia and Truvada combos.)

The 2001 Doha Declaration allows poor countries to break drug patents. They can produce cheap generic drugs in the event of epidemics like HIV. Doha does not apply to second-generation drugs like Tenofivir. Doha was signed by 142 countries including the US.

            The Public Patent Foundation (PUBPAT) is the small non-profit that challenged Gilead’s patents. They said, “To allow Gilead to have an undeserved monopoly decreases availability. And it increases price and restrains access to the drug.” PUBPAT expects two to five more years of litigation while Gilead appeals.

            This is a worldwide battle. Each country has different patent laws. HIV/AIDS organizations are currently fighting Gilead’s patents in India.

Retired caregivers in Ireland now receive a retirement pension of $208 per week. (People with enough “waged stamps” from employment receive $224 per week.) All elders also receive free travel (trains and busses), free telephone, free medical, a fuel allowance, and help with rent.

On November 8, the House Financial Services Committee heard testimony on debt cancellation for Liberia. This was the end of a year-long campaign by Jubilee Network. They explained the critical importance of eliminating this unjust debt. A week later Liberia won liberation from huge debts to the International Monetary Fund. These debts were accrued by greedy dictators.

A generation ago Gen. Francisco Franco gave hefty cash prizes to parents in Spain with the most children. These days Spain's public schools teach that modern families can be single parents with kids, or same-sex couples raising adopted children. Spain grants full legal status to same-sex couples, including adoption rights.

Half the cabinet members in Socialist Prime Minister Zapatero’s administration are women. Under Zapatero’s leadership Spain passed a law granting financial aid to families caring for handicapped or elderly relatives. They amnestied 600,000 undocumented workers. And Spain has created special courts to prosecute spousal violence.

            The Catholic church is opposed to many of Zapatero’s social advances, including marriage for all and divorce access. Under the dictator Franco, the Catholic church was powerful and deeply entrenched in the government.

"Whatever some cardinal may say, the family, understood in a broad sense, is in very good health," Zapatero responded to church criticism.

Spain's Socialist government is seeking re-election next month. Half of the candidates are women.