Drew Hendricks is Pro-Oppression: How he verbally and emotionally abused me and others several times over the last few months, and how to stop him

SECURITY CULTURE, PEOPLE!!!!!!

This isn't a joke, or a game, or a leisurely pasttime. THIS IS SERIOUS S***. People in less tolerant countries (and of less-approved skin colors here in USA) get murdered and tortured and disappeared for half of what we get away with. This is a serious movement, with serious goals and serious consequences. Treat these processes with some respect.

This isn't an exercise in boosting your ego, nor an exercise of absolving your feelings of guilt. Being a part of something awesome doesn't make you cool. Having "the scoop" on something doesn't make you a pillar of the community. Always remember that being a part of the movement is an issue of work, and that the most valuable work that needs to be done is the work that generally goes unnoticed.

Don't brag about how you're "in." Don't ask questions of need-to-know things you don't need to know. Don't solicit actions you have no interest in having a hand in. Be aware of the difference between publicly-monitored and not-so-readily-monitored venues, and be aware of the distinction of topics that can be discussed in either.

Don't implicate people who do not wish to be implicated, don't involve people in conspiracy-to-commit-a-crime without some indication of prior consent, and do not talk publicly in terms of sedition. Don't discuss or engage in tangential illegalities, like pot smoking, in venues where it could be observed and used by the police as an excuse to bust an otherwise "untouchable" community activist. Don't commit to paper or to your computer things that would destroy you and your friends were they to fall into the wrong hands. Be careful what you blog.

Don't trust sensitive information to untrustworthy people. Don't trust it to people who are desperate to be seen as in-the-know, or who have a habit of telling their life-stories to strangers, or who have a regular habit of saying stupid, embarrassing s*** in public, or who otherwise don't think before they speak.

In response to a recent anti-homeless ordinance in Olympia, WA, the newly formed Poor Peoples' Union has begun a tent city encampment in downtown Olympia. Organizers wish to claim a space for the homeless within the community, to bring awareness to homeless issues, and to use the encampment as a springboard for efforts to combat the new ordinance.

On November 28, the Olympia City Council approved a new version of the downtown sidewalk ordinance, with only one member voting against. The new ordinance outlaws sitting on a downtown sidewalk within 6 feet of a building, bans "aggressive" panhandling, and requires paid permits for busking (playing music for money). The ordinance took effect today, February 1st.

In response, the Poor Peoples' Union was formed. The PPU is an organization of Street People ("Homeless") and their friends. PPU is a autonomous, democratic organization where the unhoused have the final say on matters that effect them directly.

The first action of the PPU has been today's setting up of a homeless encampment, at the intersection of State and Columbia in downtown Olympia, behind the Brotherhood Tavern. Donations of food, water, and tents have already arrived, with many poor and homeless pledging to stay on site until the city of Olympia backs off from its persecution of the city's homeless.

Today's onset of the ordinance was also met with multiple sidewalk sit-ins, organized by the Olympia Movement for Justice and Peace. However, the police did not enforce the ordinance upon any of these sit-ins, and did not engage the participants.

So far, the only response to these actions has been from one city official, who visited the tent city to tell the organizers he thought this was a "poke in the eye" after everything the city has done for the homeless. The popular response was that everything the city has done to the homeless has felt like 500 pokes in the eye.

If the city wants to maintain good relations with the poor and homeless in the future, the homeless community needs to be involved in the decision making on anything that affects them. We don't need charity. We need solidarity.

Finally, a couple recent videos of police in St. Petersburg slashing up homeless peoples' tents:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LrPdZmPB36U
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rpxo0mfVons&NR

Found a copy of The Olympian from November 23, 2004. Of specific interest is the article on the big Port Commissioners meeting of 11-22-04, where two or three hundred people spoke out against the use of the port for military shipments, with only about ten people speaking in favor of them. (The Olympian, of course, titled the article "Public Split on Army's port use.")

Click to view larger image:




This was only a week after a large group of protesters cut a big hole in the port fence, forcing the Cape Intrepid to pick up and leave, with half its cargo on the quay.

My two favorite parts:

1) This quote by Paul Telford:
"I don't equate making these kinds of moral judgments with my job as a port commissioner."

2) The photo of Jeff "God Bless Israeli Bulldozers" Brigham giving us all the "Four more years" salute.

Totally classic. :D

Ricky Clousing is a free man! Not only has he been released from the brig, but he has been discharged from the military, and can now continue his antiwar activism without interference.

Ricky first went AWOL after returning from Iraq, citing the horrors he had seen there. On his bed on base, he left the following quote by Martin Luther King, Jr.:

"Cowardice asks the question, 'Is it safe?' Expediency asks the question, 'Is it politic?' But conscience asks the question, 'Is it right?' And there comes a time when one must take a position that is neither safe, nor politic, nor popular but because conscience tells one it is right."

On several occasions, he attempted to turn himself in for punishment and to be formally processed out of the military, but every time the military sent him away. It wasn't until he went public, at a press conference at the Veterans For Peace convention in Seattle this August, that the military took notice. He turned himself later that day at nearby Fort Lewis.

In October, Clousing was sentenced to 90 days in the brig. His original release date was December 27th, which would have held him beyond Christmas. However, because of his treatment during his initial confinement at Fort Lewis, his lawyer was able to have that time counted as time served, which reduced his sentence by four days.

Ricky was reunited with his family at Sea-Tac Airport late last night. He is currently home with his family in Western Washington, and looking forward to resuming his antiwar work.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

But if you ask me, I bet Chuck Norris whooped up on someone.



Mission Accomplished, Texas Ranger!

Suzanne Swift's trial is happening at 9 a.m. on Wednesday, 12/13. If you would like to show support for Suzanne at exit 119 at Fort Lewis, and possibly attend the trial (we are hoping this will be possible), a carpool is forming at the downtown Batdorf & Bronson at 8 a.m. Wednesday, 12/13. At this point, we have 8 spaces for passengers. Please meet us at B&B if you would like to participate.

The main action to support support Suzanne Swift will be WEDNESDAY December 13th at 9am

-------------------------

Free Suzanne Swift! Jail the war criminals!

Come support Suzanne Swift at her trial tomorrow, Wednesday December 13, 2006, at 9am at Ft. Lewis

For more information call Chanan of Iraq Vets Against the War at: 206-724-5975

Army Spc. Suzanne Swift, facing a redeployment to Iraq while serving under the command of the same individuals that allowed her to be raped and sexual harassed during her first deployment in Iraq, suffered a breakdown due to Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, and went Absent With Out Leave (AWOL) rather than subject herself to the horrors she experienced at the hands of her fellow soldiers during her first tour of duty.

Suzanne was arrested for refusing to deploy and her court hearing will be tomorrow morning at Ft. Lewis. Suzanne has signed a statement saying what happened to her, and the military wants to do a summary court-martial with her, saying that she missed movement and went AWOL—giving her up to 30 days in confinement. They are also demanding that she then stay in the military until January of 2009.

Join Suzanne's mother, Sarah Rich, and her supporters at Ft. Lewis tomorrow to demand justice!

The U.S. Army is strong-arming Suzanne Swift into taking a deal. Because of the ongoing physcological stress for Suzanne, and for fear of retaliation, she is planning on taking a modified version of the deal some time this week.

Suzanne will spend 30 days in jail, and will have to stay in the Army through January of 2009. These punishments are for her refusing to re-deploy to Iraq, where she had been sexually assaulted by her commander. No punishments have been brought upon her assailants, and no reputable investigation has been conducted into her allegations.

Despite submitting to punishment for refusing to re-deploy, Suzanne refused to sign a statement which would have disavowed the sexual assault she has received in the service.

The campaign to free Suzanne Swift will continue, though it is clear now that merely asking the military or politicians to do the right thing and bring Suzanne swift justice will not be enough. Only our refusal to tolerate this injustice will bring it to a halt.

(frequent swearing behind "read more" link)

I know, I know. Like a**holes, everyone's got an opinion, and they all stink. Well, having just now got around to watching the video, I'm gonna let loose anyway.

Video of the initial incident

Richards' apology on Letterman

The two hecklers on the Today show

All things being equal, his flipping out like this on two people at a nightclub isn't a big deal. It's not. The prevailing racial inequalities in society are a big deal. The fact that the prison population of this country is as severly skewed racially as it is is a big deal. The disproportionate poverty levels between races is a big deal. The fact that the people who promote war are disproportionately White and the people who fight and die in war are disproportionately non-White is a big deal. The fact that people think all our racial problems are behind us is a big deal. One guy flipping out and having a racist tirade at a couple of people in a nightclub? Yeah, it sucks, but it's about as newsworthy as yesterday's 15 car pileup on the Interstate. The tirade is only a big deal in that it brings feelings which our society has never truly dealt with back to the forefront. It is not news, in and of itself.

But all things are not equal.

Richards says the two guys in question were heckling him, and then he just exploded in rage at them, not thinking about his choice of words. The two guys say he started making fun of "the stupid bunch of Blacks and Mexicans" who had just entered, and used epithets when they stood up for themselves.

No need to call Nancy Drew on this one. The two guys on the Today show are lying pricks. Seriously.