Undercurrents

FCC Chairman Kevin Martin is set on having a very special media consolidation Christmas. Martin has proposed lifting the longstanding ban on one company owning both the daily newspaper and a radio or TV station in the same market. He has pushed for a vote on his proposal by Dec. 18.

Time is running out!

S 2332, the “The Media Ownership Act of 2007,” is a bill that would direct the FCC to conduct a separate proceeding on localism and create an independent minority and female ownership task force before moving forward with any changes to media ownership limits.

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Given that several of the speakers at the Nashawn Williams solidarity rally on Saturday were clergy and/or religious folk, this non-religious person has to take you all to task for failing to cite the most clearly appropriate biblical passage for the day . . .and at the same time failing to clarify an important misconception about that passage.

In Genesis we read that God found Abraham’s nephew Lot to be the only righteous man in the city of Sodom and for that reason determined to destroy the city and all of its inhabitants. God sent two angels to Lot’s home to warn him so that he and his family might leave. Lot welcomed them and treated them hospitably, but that evening . . .

“When they had not yet retired, and the people of the city, the people of Sodom, surrounded the house, both young and old, the entire populace from every end [of the city]. And they called to Lot and said to him, “Where are the men who came to you tonight? Bring them out to us, and let us know them.” Bereishit (Genesis)19:4-5. (more…)

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[Ed: I took part in this Direct Action last year with the Workers and will again this year and encourage anyone who can to come to DC, or to connect with local actions that will be occurring in CT on J11. Great pic of Frida and Susan]

CALL TO ACTION

We declare January 11, 2008, six years after the first prisoners arrived at Guantanamo, an International Day of Action to Shut Down Guantanamo. In Washington, DC we will hold a permitted demonstration at the National Mall followed by an orange jumpsuit procession to the Supreme Court. There will also be solidarity demonstrations in Chicago, Miami, London and Paris, with more being added every day. We invite you to come to Washington and participate, or else join or plan an action in your own community. We also encourage people around the world to wear orange t-shirts, armbands or other orange clothing on January 11th to mark the date. (more…)

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I think all of us who attended today’s Nashawn Williams Rally in Plainfield would say that it was a true success. Our goals were to assure that the Williams family knew that Connecticut stood behind them in their outrage to the racial violence that was perpetrated upon Nashawn. We were honored that Nashawn’s mother and her fiance were able to attend and speak at the rally. And she saw that many people stood in solidarity with her in outrage at, and quest for, justice from the Plainfield Police, City Officials and residents of Plainfield. Though a number of Plainfield residents were hiding behind closed doors in the Town Hall whose steps we took for the day, there were a number of brave Plainfield residents who joined us and spoke out against the racism in Plainfield and in support of the Williams family. We hope that this visible presence will begin to allow Plainfield to openly discuss and deal with its institutionalized racism and white supremacy and (more…)

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By Steve Thornton
Lynching is as American as cherry pie. It continues to be the “strange fruit” that Billie Holiday first sang about in 1939: Black body swinging in the southern breeze/ Strange fruit hanging from the poplar trees. This brutal form of mob violence spread across the South after the Civil War but it never found fertile soil in Connecticut. Well, not quite.

Recently, nooses have appeared in West Hartford, Bridgeport, Stamford and New London. (more…)

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Hard times lie ahead. We blew everything we had on diversions, including two wars, and now the tab is coming due.

(more…)

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Frank Rizzo gave HartBeat Ensemble’s “Ebeneeza” a glowing review in today’s Courant.

The show is Dickens’ Christmas Carol set in modern day Hartford. According to Rizzo, the show is able to “melt hearts as it illuminates minds.”

“Ebeneeza” opened last weekend and will run through December 30.

To purchase tickets for “Ebeneeza” visit the Charter Oak Cultural Center box office at 21 Charter Oak Ave. between 9am -5pm Monday through Friday or call Charter Oak at 860-249-1207. For group sales call HartBeat Ensemble at 548-9144. Ebeneeza – A Hartford Holiday Carol will run Thursday – Saturday at 7:30PM for the month of December. Sunday @ 2pm on the 16th & 30th.

*Full disclosure: One of the playwrights is my partner (Julia B. Rosenblatt).

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The New Haven Coalition to End the Parole Ban - Protest
The Board of Pardons & Parole
Waterbury (55 West Main St.)
Monday, December 17, at 11:30 am

Sign the Petition to END the Parole Ban

Governor Rell has banned parole. Even those, out of parole, who had already rejoined society are being taken back to prison (this includes (more…)

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Last night at the big anti-ICE demonstration, the president of the Shaheen Brazilian Cultural Center, Ester Sanches-Naek, proudly proclaimed here support of the…ICE?!? (more…)

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Connecticut legislators, Attorney General, Governor, State Police and on and on are SAYING NOTHING about the blatant racist attack against Nashawn Williams in Plainfield. The Plainfield police are simply dismissing the racist attack on Nashawn as a prank. Instead over the last week it has become glaringly clear that the victim and the family are becoming the targets of a Racist system of InJustice in Plainfield and Connecticut! I wonder if they were rich white folks in Plainfield if the deafening police and government silence would be the same? Don’t let Jena come to Plainfield! (more…)

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