This just in from those nefarious minds at the Times… evidently the last governor’s unfortunate “incident” is already starting to have a positive impact on the State of New York. What can one say except “’bout time! What the hell were you waiting for New York??? This IS New York isn’t it???” Damn. Well, regardless, good job to the new Gov.

Breaking News Alert
The New York Times
Wednesday, May 28, 2008 — 9:14 PM ET
—–

New York Begins to Alter Policy on Gay Marriage

Gov. David A. Paterson has directed all state agencies to begin to revise their policies and regulations to recognize same-sex marriages performed in other jurisdictions, like Massachusetts, California and Canada. In a directive the governor’s legal counsel, David Nocenti, instructed the agencies that gay couples married elsewhere “should be afforded the same recognition as any other legally performed union.”

Read More:
http://www.nytimes.com/?emc=na

—–
Now get the New York Times Breaking News to your mobile phone. Sign up for the alerts by texting NEWSALERTS to 698698 (NYTNYT).

Hey Kids, The ambassador here. Now i must admit. I used to use Working Assets as my telephone service provider back when we had things like “telephones.” But since i made the switch to “cell phone only world,” i haven’t seen a Working Assets bill, and that’s been years. But i too LOVE Working Assets as Heather down below does as she goes gaga for them. Truth is, if what she says is for real, let’s ALL make the switch. tres tres cool. Read below. Yours, E

And now a word from Heather Smith of Rock the Vote:

As you may have noticed, I sometimes forward on e-mails from CREDO Mobile. That’s because CREDO Mobile is Rock the Vote’s online voter registration partner and organizes around incredibly important progressive issues. Already this year, 600,000 young people have used Rock the Vote and CREDO Mobile’s online registration tool. Rather than just explaining what CREDO does, CREDO suggested that we pass on this (real!) blog post:

Posted by benwyskida April 25, 2008 on the PinkoMag Blog In 1999 I joined Working Assets long distance. I did it almost entirely because they sent you two free coupons for Ben & Jerry’s with each bill, and who wouldn’t like that? In 2002 I switched to their cell phone service. In the early Wild West days of socially-responsible living, Working Assets was a gamble. It was expensive; service would fade in and out, and once an operator told me nicely that my phone might have problems working in downtown Philly because there were lots of “obstacles,” also known as buildings. BUT I loved the fact that they gave piles of money to progressive nonprofits; that they sent action alerts in my cell phone bill and I could order lefty books; and the fact that my cash WASN’T going to a major media cell phone company. And I waited, patiently, for the point where the service was good enough and it was a safe enough bet that I could say to all my friends: There is no reason NOT to have them as your mobile provider, especially if you want a nice easy way (and who doesn’t) to do a little something for the left. Last week, I notified them that I had moved. And my phone company—my freakin’ phone company—emailed me a link to a voter registration form, so that I didn’t forget to change my registration info. Two days later they emailed again to ask if I’d changed the registration yet. Two days after that I got a letter, triple checking that I was registered. I thought, okay, that’s awesome. It’s time. Everyone should take the plunge. I realize that this is pretty shameless and pretty pushy a plug. Anticipating that, I’m ready to answer questions I’m sure you’ll have that are preventing you from giving your $60 a month to a good company and instead paying $60 a month for the salary of the can you hear me now guy. 1. Is it a real phone company? Yes. It’s like Sprint. Or T-Mobile. Or Verizon. You pick a plan, they send you a phone, you call people. 2. Are the phones made of hemp and cashew nut cheese? I wish! But they’re not. They have real actual phones with cameras and text messages. 3. Can I keep my number, and what about the contract? Gotcha on this! Yes, you can keep your number. And … wait for it … Working Assets will pay off your contract. There is literally no risk or reason. (Oh: the one debbie downer is that if you have an iPhone, Apple struck a deal and you can’t use a different service provider. It sucks, and maybe it will change.) 4. Is the service good? Is it more expensive? The service, I’m glad to say, is now just as good as any other phone. Totally comparable. As for more expensive, it may be slightly more depending on the plan. But even if it is, those couple more dollars are going to prison reform organizations, media justice groups, nifty indie media outlets, and women’s rights. You help all those people and don’t have to do anything, you just talk talk blah blah like usual and pay your bill and then awesome groups get money. 5. How do I join CREDO Mobile, ditch my corporate cell phone and do good things? Click here. Go!

Click here to find out more.

Together with CREDO, we’re going to register two million young voters this year. Thanks for making a difference. Thanks for rocking the vote,

Heather Smith
Executive Director | Rock the Vote

Tonight RTR brings you a story soon to be on the front pages of every newspaper and news network across the country.

Our guest, accompanied by his attorney will share with you his personal story of torture, loss, and betrayal by our own Government and cover up by the Canadian authorities to preserve their agenda for a North American Union.

Not only will you hear his story but we will be putting out a call to action to put pressure on those who are tasked with protecting Americans abroad to fully address those Canadians whom violated international treaties with the help of members of the US Government.

THIS CALL IS NOT TO BE MISSED.
TONIGHT (Thursday) 9pm EST / 8pm CST / 6pm PST
There are 2 ways to join this **Special Conference**:
By Phone (200 max listeners): Dial (218)486-3695  Guest Pin: 733552#
By Internet (2000 max listeners): Visit http://www.restoretherepublic.com and click on the play button (top front page)
If you have trouble accessing the RTR front page or have a dial-up connection please connect using http://RestoreTheRepublic.com/call.html
At Approximately 10:00 pm EST we will open up for Q/A using the question submission form that will appear on the RTR front page at that time. The question form is currently up at: http://RestoreTheRepublic.com/call.html

PLEASE MUTE YOURSELF WHEN ENTERING THE CALL.
Mute/Unmute Yourself: *6 *7
***
WARNING: The torture details of this story are graphic and may not be suitable for younger audiences.
***
Tomorrow the FED Banker interview video will be released.
***
If you missed last nights call about “Surviving the Next Great Depression” and getting paid for activism, it can be downloaded with this link: http://www.restoretherepublic.com/component/option,com_docman/task,doc_download/gid,123/Itemid,59/

Sent from your friends at:
RestoreTheRepublic.com, 3149 Dundee Rd #176, Northbrook, Illinois 60062, USA

This was sent in from “marco” — to some of you it may be “old news” but for those still peeking their heads behind the curtain it will tune you in to a lot of interesting information. Shows you how the heads of the giant corporations of the world swap positions and sit on various government job. Marco says “type in Bush Oil and enjoy.”

A Brief Explanation
They Rule allows you to create maps of the interlocking directories of the top companies in the US in 2004.
The data was collected from their websites and SEC filings in early 2004, so it may not be completely accurate - companies merge and disappear and directors shift boards.

Read more about They Rule here.

You can also read the new They Rule weblog which has links to related sites.

Dear Colleagues, Fans, Friends, & Fellow-Do-Gooders,

As you all know I’m as turned on by philanthropy, community service, volunteering, and charitable causes like nobody’s business. And as long as they check out, we get some good feedback about a cause, and don’t hear anything questionable from users, we are more than happy to give them a spot here on TuneInTurnOnHelpOut.org. But every now and then an idea for a non-profit comes along that just blows us all away with it’s revolutionary approach to creating not only “awareness” - which is always goal number one - AND goal number two - “the desire to help in the average citizen” - AND in goal number three - which is “to get them to take action RIGHT NOW with YOUR NON-PROFIT” - but they make it seem COOL. Last year’s RED Campaign was a GREAT example of this. A BRILLIANT idea for sure.

But let us not forget that the Hunger Site has been doing this for years! A simple idea was hatched in some amazing person’s mind - what if we could get corporations to donate money towards food banks to feed people on the verge of dying of hunger (can you freaking imagine people dying of hunger in the world today???) just by having other people click on a “Feed Someone” link. And believe it or not, it worked. I have pasted below some of their basic info just so you could have a looksee at their history and how many millions of dollars they have raised and how many millions of people they have saved from dying. Revolutionary? Hell i don’t know. But damn close it for sure. If I could be any non-profit in the world for just one day I would probably be either Amnesty International - because I just absolutely love their mission, their non-partisan integrity, and their cajones, or I would be the Hunger Site. A simple mission but probably no greater one on the planet today. And they are really making a difference.

Do yourself and us all a favor and go to their site. Have a click. Feed a fellow citizen of the world. It’s that simple. Then grab their URL from your address bar, and drag it to your links bar on your browser so it’s in your face everyday and visit them as often as you can. Read on to learn more. Kudos to you Hunger Site people for almost ten years in one kickass campaign and all of your time, energy, and efforts on all of our behalves!

Sincerely,

Ed Hale

The Hunger Site was founded to focus the power of the Internet on a specific humanitarian need: the eradication of world hunger. Since its launch in June 1999, the site has established itself as a leader in online activism, helping to feed the world’s hungry. On average, over 220,000 individuals from around the world visit the site each day to click the yellow “Click Here to Give - it’s FREE” button. To date, more than 300 million visitors have given more than 500 million cups of staple food.

The staple food funded by clicks at The Hunger Site is paid for by site sponsors and distributed to those in need by Mercy Corps and America’s Second Harvest . 100% of sponsor advertising fees goes to our charitable partners. Funds are split between these organizations and go to the aid of hungry people in Africa, Asia, Eastern Europe, the Middle East, Latin America and North America.

All of us here at The Hunger Site are also deeply moved by the humanitarian crisis in Darfur . Learn how you can help!

Hunger: Do You Know The Facts?

It is estimated that one billion people in the world suffer from hunger and malnutrition. That’s roughly 100 times as many as those who actually die from these causes each year.

About 24,000 people die every day from hunger or hunger-related causes. This is down from 35,000 ten years ago, and 41,000 twenty years ago. Three-fourths of the deaths are children under the age of five.

Famine and wars cause about 10% of hunger deaths, although these tend to be the ones you hear about most often. The majority of hunger deaths are caused by chronic malnutrition. Families facing extreme poverty are simply unable to get enough food to eat.

The Hunger Site began on June 1, 1999. In 1999, a year marked by good economic news, 31 million Americans were food insecure, meaning they were either hungry or unsure of where their next meal would come from. Of these Americans, 12 million were children.

Click here to learn more about hunger.

Friends,

I don’t get to vote for President this primary season. I live in Michigan. The party leaders (both here and in D.C.) couldn’t get their act together, and thus our votes will not be counted.

So, if you live in Pennsylvania, can you do me a favor? Will you please cast my vote — and yours — on Tuesday for Senator Barack Obama?

I haven’t spoken publicly ’til now as to who I would vote for, primarily for two reasons: 1) Who cares?; and 2) I (and most people I know) don’t give a rat’s ass whose name is on the ballot in November, as long as there’s a picture of JFK and FDR riding a donkey at the top of the ballot, and the word “Democratic” next to the candidate’s name.

Seriously, I know so many people who don’t care if the name under the Big “D” is Dancer, Prancer, Clinton or Blitzen. It can be Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck, Barry Obama or the Dalai Lama.

Well, that sounded good last year, but over the past two months, the actions and words of Hillary Clinton have gone from being merely disappointing to downright disgusting. I guess the debate last week was the final straw. I’ve watched Senator Clinton and her husband play this game of appealing to the worst side of white people, but last Wednesday, when she hurled the name “Farrakhan” out of nowhere, well that’s when the silly season came to an early end for me. She said the “F” word to scare white people, pure and simple. Of course, Obama has no connection to Farrakhan. But, according to Senator Clinton, Obama’s pastor does — AND the “church bulletin” once included a Los Angeles Times op-ed from some guy with Hamas! No, not the church bulletin!

This sleazy attempt to smear Obama was brilliantly explained the following night by Stephen Colbert. He pointed out that if Obama is supported by Ted Kennedy, who is Catholic, and the Catholic Church is led by a Pope who was in the Hitler Youth, that can mean only one thing: OBAMA LOVES HITLER! (more…)

ANSWER Coalition holds press conference to demand extradition of Posada and freedom for the Cuban Five :: FOIA request filed to uncover links between U.S. government and anti-Cuba terrorists

The Bush administration is ratcheting up the campaign against the people of Cuba. The ANSWER Coalition and the National Committee to Free the Cuban Five are mounting a vigorous campaign to defend the peace and security for the people of Cuba and the United States.

On Monday, the Cuban government revealed that the Bush administration’s ambassador to the U.S. Interests Section in Havana, Michael Parmly, handled cash transfers from convicted terrorist Santiago Alvarez to Martha Beatriz Roque and other individuals on the island who have been championed by Bush in their effort to overthrow the Cuban government and the Cuban Revolution.

The ANSWER Coalition has been actively campaigning for the extradition or prosecution of anti-Cuba terrorist Luis Posada Carriles, who is known to have longstanding connections to the CIA. More than 50,000 people have responded to the appeal from the ANSWER Coalition to write letters to Bush demanding that Luis Posada Carriles be extradited to Venezuela or prosecuted here in the United States. He is wanted for planting a bomb on a Cuban civilian airliner, which took the lives of 73 people, and the bombing attacks against Cuban tourist hotels in the late 1990s.

Today, the ANSWER Coalition sponsored a successful press conference to demand Posada’s extradition. The speakers exposed the double standard of the Bush administration’s imprisonment of the Cuban Five, while Luis Posada walks free.Among the speakers were Wayne Smith, former Chief of the U.S. Interests Section in Havana, Cuba, from 1979-1982; José Pertierra, U.S. attorney representing Venezuela in extradition case; Gloria La Riva, National Coordinator, National Committee to Free the Cuban Five; Mara Verheyden-Hilliard, attorney and co-founder, Partnership for Civil Justice; Eugene Puryear, Howard University student leader; Brian Becker, National Coordinator, ANSWER Coalition. Click here to view a rush transcript from the press conference.

The ANSWER Coalition also filed yesterday a Freedom of Information Action request to uncover all interactions and transactions between the United States government and anti-Cuba terrorist organizations. Click this link to download the FOIA request.

A.N.S.W.E.R. Coalition
http://www.answercoalition.org/
info@internationalanswer.org
National Office in Washington DC: 202-544-3389
New York City: 212-694-8720
Los Angeles: 213-251-1025
San Francisco: 415-821-6545
Chicago: 773-463-0311

An informative article submitted by former UN worker ASneakyPie - an issue that is close to her heart and to many others in the rest of the world.

http://www.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/africa/05/19/taylor.trial.ap/index.html

“Yes,” he answered to no one in particular when the question appeared in the room; staring off into the open space that connects us all, “it is a challenge. But it is also extremely entertaining. Perhaps because it is just so damn interesting.”

He was referring to the question, more of a statement it was really, regarding how difficult and challenging it must be to handle the constant influx of comments and mail both good and bad, both slobberlingly gracious and downright nasty, that one receives or reads online about oneself when one places himself out THERE in the public domain. Especially in such a personal and potentially vulnerable manner in which our hero has made a habit of over the last fifteen years. The internet has made it all the more overwhelming now of course because to give an interview in the Times is one thing. To post your latest rant on the internet as fair bait for everyone and anyone takes a brave soul, or perhaps just an insane one. But truly, and this just might be the greatest benefit of it, it eventually reaches a point where there is no conceivable way to actually read all of it, let alone personally answer it.

But every now and then I do. Truth is, for better or worse, thoughtfully complimentary or insanely rude and hateful, I enjoy scanning through Youtube comments especially. Real human dialogue is almost always instantly and immediately created. And again it is not a practice for the faint of heart. Not only am I just as addicted to the revolution we call YouTube as the next guy, I see it as a very exciting harbinger of what’s to come. In essence, that which we now call YouTube is the future, our future.

When I can find the time, which is becoming less and less available and more and more valuable these days, I will sit down and shoot off as many replies as I can when a community has cropped up around a particular video. It always amazes me how regardless of what the actual video is about people will still find a way to turn the dialogue that begins to mushroom around a particular video into these little bickering arguments amongst themselves. How quickly one or more will jump to ad hominem attacks of perfect strangers right there online for all the world to read - rather than simply staying on point or on message. When the video in question is one of my own I will on occasion attempt to jump in and add my own two cents in order to quench a few fires and get people back on track… (more…)

The ANSWER Coalition is organizing or supporting activities throughout the week in commemoration of the “Nakba,” the forced expulsion of Palestinians from their homeland. Over the last few days there have been important rallies in San Francisco, New York City and Washington DC, as there have been in scores of other cities across the globe. The ANSWER Coalition encourages all who can to attend the Al-Awda Convention in Anaheim, California this weekend. The Convention will conclude with a march on Sunday, May 18. See below for details.

6th Al-Awda Int’l Convention to Mark 60 Years of Palestinian Nakba
May 16-18, 2008, Anaheim, California
Palestine: 60 Years of Forced Exile, Time For Return

(more…)

Amnesty International today said it had written to the Head of the Judiciary in Iran, urging him to ensure that appeals hearings against the convictions and sentences of six women’s rights defenders (WRDs) passed in recent weeks in connection with their peaceful exercise of their rights to freedom of expression and association are heard promptly and impartially.

If the sentences are confirmed at appeal, the organization is calling on the Head of the Judiciary, Ayatollah Hashemi Shahroudi, to review the cases and to overturn the convictions of the women, all of whom will become prisoners of conscience if imprisoned.

Amnesty International also asked the Head of the Judiciary to ensure that all women’s rights defenders were free to leave and return to the country, in accordance with Article 12 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), to which Iran is a state party.

All the sentences are suspended, but could be implemented if the women are convicted of a similar offence during the period of suspension. If any of them were to be imprisoned in the future as a result of these sentences, Amnesty International would call for their immediate and unconditional release as prisoners of conscience.

The organisation also urged the Head of the Judiciary to ensure that the flogging sentences imposed on the women are not implemented under any circumstances. Flogging is a form of cruel, inhuman and degrading punishment, which amounts to torture, and is outlawed under Article 7 of the ICCPR.

(more…)

Dear fellow TuneInTurnOnHelpOut peeps,

United for Peace and Justice (UFPJ) is an organization which gets a lot of support from us around here. For many reasons. One of its principles, Bill Dobbs, had a good hand in turning me on to what activism was really all about. I had some opportunity to watch him in action during an organized Free Trade protest event that lasted days and days a few years back and the man was just tireless. Absolutely persistent, relentless, and committed to the goal of helping to get the word out to the mass media and to the world at large about the potential dangers and pitfalls of Free Trade. I learned much from watching him work. It taught me a lot about what it means to be “an activist.”

Since that time, I have been a UFPJ member and supporter when i could be, and at the very least always try to get the word out on what they are up to. Because what they are up to is always about “us” — their main concern is helping us even during times when we may not be aware of a potential problem yet. Such as right this very minute congress is about to vote on another bill to give the “white house” more money to continue to illegally occupy another country. Now this is some tricky stuff of course. Because Iraq really is no longer another country since we took it over. It now essentially belongs to us if we’re all going to just be honest here. And yes there is also the fact that if we leave, though what the US White House Administration did was illegal and immoral and grossly barbaric, we take the risk of this new Nation falling into the hands of some who may not have our best interest at heart. This argument may be where I and UFPJ differ. I am against the invasion of Iraq. Read the statement above again. But I also understand that we just blew a hole in that part of the world the size of, well, a small country, and we don’t want to leave a gaping wound for just anyone to come and fix up. This poses a huge security risk for us and other EU nations. Unfortunately it was us who started this war, and now we are going to have to be the ones who resolve things over there until the job is done.

But at the same time, I recognize that UFPJ has been very supportive of this group of Iraq Veterans Against the War — these are the actual soldiers who have been serving over there on our behalf. If you go to YouTube, you can spend a good number of hours watching them speak right into the camera about what it is like over there. I highly recomened it. Both veterans still there, and veterans now home. Both veterans for the invasion and veterans against it. It is a good idea to get THEIR side of the story since after all they are the ones over their risking their lives, getting killed, and getting hurt, injured, deformed, and maimed for life. (more…)

Hey team, as always some great stuff here from those wild women at CodePink. Read on and lend a hand if you can. E

 

May 9, 2008

Dear Friend,

Outside Speaker Pelosi’s DC office on Thursday, we found a disconcerting site: the Congresswoman in bed with George Bush! It seems the two of them, behind closed doors, have been colluding to guarantee $162 billion more of our tax dollars for war!

With Mother’s Days approaching, we appealed to the Speaker as a mother. We asked her to please stop funding war and destruction, and instead support our family needs here at home and the Iraqi refugees who are struggling to survive. Click here to tell Speaker Pelosi to get out of bed with Bush, to stop funding this disastrous war, and to help the refugees instead!

You, too, can do something for Mother’s Day to help the Iraqi women whose lives have been shattered by the US occupation.

When you donate today, 100% of the proceeds will go toward the Collateral Repair Project, a grassroots movement working with CODEPINK to address the catastrophic displacement of the five million Iraqis who had to leave their homes and communities because of violence and instability. CRP offers food, education, job training and other vital services to refugees.

• $25 will feed one internally displaced person in Iraq for one month
• $100 will feed a family of five living in Iraq for one month
• $250-500 will support small women-based microprojects to promote economic self-sufficiency for women in Jordan
• $1,500 will launch the Najaf sewing training project, training 50+ women sewing/embroidery. They will be able to make a small living and clothe their families.

CODEPINK Co-founder Medea Benjamin recently returned from Jordan and Syria where she witnessed firsthand the urgent needs of Iraqi women.

Layla Atiya is a 50-year-old woman from Baghdad whom I met outside the UN food distribution center in Damascus. She was a Shia who married a Sunni, something very common pre-invasion. They had a large family-eight children-but Layla’s husband worked hard as a mechanic and managed to provide a decent life for his family.

In March 2005, he was kidnapped by Shia militias trying to rid the neighborhood of Sunnis. Ten days later, his body was found dumped in a ditch, riddled with drill holes from torture. A week later, masked men came and took away her oldest son. Hysterical, she packed up the seven remaining children-ages 2-16-and fled to Syria.

Layla receives $120 a month from the UN, but it doesn’t even cover her rent. She can’t afford to send her children to school. “I can barely feed my children, much less provide them with a decent future,” she cried. “What will become of us?“

This Mother’s Day, please join CODEPINK in helping Iraqi mothers. If you donate in your mother’s name or the name of a mother you love, we will send her a beautiful E-card to acknowledge your generous gift.

With love for the mothers all over the world,
Alicia, Dana, Desiree, Farida, Gael, Gayle, Jodie, Liz, Medea, Nancy, Rae, and Tighe

p.s. To learn more about Medea’s experiences in Jordan and Syria, read her blogs here.

Dear friends,

Burma has been devastated by a cyclone–and by the military junta’s failure to help its people cope. Help raise relief funds for distribution by Burma’s monks networks:

In the wake of a massive cyclone, at least 22,000 Burmese are dead. More than 40,000 are missing. A million are homeless.

But what’s happening in Burma is not just a natural disaster–it’s also a catastrophe of bad leadership.

Burma’s brutal and corrupt military junta failed to warn the people, failed to evacuate any areas, and suppressed freedom of communication so that Burmese people didn’t know the storm was coming when the rest of the world did. Now the government is failing to respond to the disaster and obstructing international aid organizations.

Humanitarian relief is urgently needed, but Burma’s government could easily delay, divert or misuse any aid. Today the International Burmese Monks Organization, including many leaders of the democracy protests last fall, launched a new effort to provide relief through Burma’s powerful grass roots network of monasteries–the most trusted institutions in the country and currently the only source of housing and support in many devastated communities. Click below to help the Burmese people with a donation and see a video appeal to Avaaz from a leader of the monks:

https://secure.avaaz.org/en/burma_cyclone/6.php?cl=86576834

Giving to the monks is a smart, fast way to get aid directly to Burma’s people. Governments and international aid organizations are important, but face cahllenges–they may not be allowed into Burma, or they may be forced to provide aid according to the junta’s rules. And most will have to spend large amounts of money just setting up operations in the country. The monks are already on the front lines of the aid effort–housing, feeding, and supporting the victims of the cyclone since the day it struck. The International Burmese Monks Organization will send money directly to each monastery through their own networks, bypassing regime controls.

Last year, more than 800,000 of us around the world stood with the Burmese people as they rose up against the military dictatorship. The government lost no time then in dispatching its armies to ruthlessly crush the nonviolent democracy movement–but now, as tens of thousands die, the junta’s response is slow and threatens to divert precious aid into the corrupt regime’s pockets.

The monks are unlikely to receive aid from governments or large humanitarian organizations, but they have a stronger presence and trust among the Burmese people than both. If we all chip in a little bit, we can help them to make a big difference.

Click here to donate:

https://secure.avaaz.org/en/burma_cyclone/6.php?cl=86576834

With hope,

Ricken, Ben, Graziela, Paul, Iain, Veronique, Pascal, Galit and the whole Avaaz team

PS: Here are some links to more information:

For more information about Avaaz’s work to support the Burmese people, click here: http://www.avaaz.org/en/burma_report_back/
_________

ABOUT AVAAZ
Avaaz.org is an independent, not-for-profit global campaigning organization that works to ensure that the views and values of the world’s people inform global decision-making. (Avaaz means “voice” in many languages.) Avaaz receives no money from governments or corporations, and is staffed by a global team based in London, Rio de Janeiro, New York, Paris, Washington DC, and Geneva.

Dear TuneInTurnOnHelpOut fans,
See the below letter from Amnesty International reporting a recent success due directly to YOU and ME and EVERYONE ELSE who TAKES ACTION. Activism works if it’s ACTIVE. Good stuff.
sincerely,
The Ambassador

Dear Ed,
In the face of impossible odds, your thousands of letters made a huge impact last week.

On May 1st, Sami al Hajj was released from Guantánamo Bay prison after six and a half years in detention. Al Hajj was a focus of our write-a-thon in December and was adopted by Amnesty groups across the country.

Sami was a journalist for the television station al-Jazeera. In 2002, he was assigned to cover the conflict in Afghanistan. While traveling in Pakistan, Sami al Hajj was stopped by Pakistani police and detained.

He was handed over to U.S. forces, taken to Bagram Airbase in Afghanistan, and ultimately to Guantánamo He was never charged with a crime, yet was held and allegedly tortured for six years.

Upon being released, Sami flew to Khartoum, Sudan. His health was in such bad condition that he had to be carried off on a stretcher.

Amnesty International won’t stop until everyone held at Guantánamo is given the chance to defend themselves in an impartial court of law or set free.

This week, Amnesty launches a massive new initiative to bring a life-sized replica (3D tour) of a maximum security Guantánamo Bay prison cell to cities across America.

RSVP to attend or volunteer at the Cell Tour events.

Starting in Miami with special events this Thursday and Saturday, we will show visitors what it’s like to experience the harsh realities of illegal detention and prolonged isolation. Visitors will be able to record 30 second videos protesting illegal detention from inside the cell.

Thank you again for your passion and hard work.

Sincerely,
Larry Cox
Executive Director