Battle Hymns for the Blue States

Battle Hymns for the Blue States

The Putrid Minds Anthology: Battle Hymns for the Blue States byThe Sons of Emperor Norton, is the only album ever produced that features Elvis, Mark Twain, Stephen Hawking and the little known historical figure, Joshua "Emperor" Norton. This 23 song anthology is not for the faint of heart. When listening, you laugh and think, "that's clever." Then reality comes into focus and you feel powerless in the face of the monstrous Bush administration. The band's humor has more than a bit of truth between the lines.

No Picture

Human Rights Violations in the Aftermath of Hurricane Katrina

Ann Fagan Ginger works at the Meiklejohn Civil Liberties Institute, an organization which seeks to promote social change by increasing the recognition and use of existing human rights and peace law at the local, national, and international levels. She is also the editor of the book, "Challenging U.S. Human Rights Violations Since 9/11."

In this interview Ginger discusses the human rights violations which took place in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina and how her organization has worked to expose these violations.

Robin Lloyd

Taking on Torture

Robin Lloyd
For years, Vermont filmmaker and activist Robin Lloyd has traveled throughout Latin America, observing firsthand the death and destruction left behind by U.S.-bred military policies promoting counterinsurgencies. More recently, she has been traveling the world as part of the Women's International League of Peace and Freedom, and continues to work as a filmmaker and publisher of Toward Freedom, a progressive-minded, international public affairs website. On Nov. 20, she took her longstanding opposition to U.S. policies of torture and became one of 40 people arrested at an annual protest against the U.S. Army's Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation (WHINSEC), and expects to serve at least three months in a federal prison as a result and pay a fine of up to $5,000.

No Picture

U.S. held detainees in Kosovo

PARIS – The Council of Europe’s human rights commissioner, Alvaro Gil-Robles, has told France’s Le Monde newspaper that the U.S. military ran a Guantanamo Bay-type detention center in Kosovo, and that he was “shocked” by the conditions he witnessed there in 2002. However, he has no proof that the center, located within the U.S. military’s Camp Bondsteel, is linked to alleged CIA “ghost prison” operations.

The Council of Europe, which guarantees human rights in its 46 member states, has launched an investigation into the alleged secret prisons. Dick Marty, who is leading the probe, has already concluded that Romania, which rights groups have labeled a likely site for a secret center, has not hosted a large jail, but didn’t exclude the possibility of small facilities with one or two detainees being kept temporarily for interrogation. read more

Brouillet

An Interview with 9/11 Truth Activist Carol Brouillet

A co-founder of both the International Media Project, Making Contact alternative media group and the Northern California 9-11 Truth Alliance, Carol Brouillet is one of the most energetic, creative and politically productive West Coast-based anti-war activists.

Toward Freedom: Since October 2001, you've been organizing weekly "Listening For Peace" anti-war protests in Downtown Palo Alto, California. In what various ways have people in Palo Alto responded to your weekly "Listening For Peace" actions during the last four years?

Bush, Morales

Eyes on US Troops in Paraguay as Bolivian Election Nears

The recent shift to the left among Latin American governments has been a cause for concern in the Bush administration. The White House has tried in vain to put this shift in check. Presidential elections in Bolivia on December 18th are likely to further challenge U.S. hegemony. Evo Morales, an indigenous, socialist congressman, is expected to win the election. How far will the U.S. go to prevent a leftist victory in Bolivia? Some Bolivians fear the worst.  In the past year, U.S. military operations in neighboring Paraguay have complicated the already tumultuous political climate in the region. White House officials claim the operations are based on humanitarian aid efforts. However, political analysts in Bolivia and Paraguay say the activity is aimed at securing the region's gas and water reserves and intervening in Bolivia if Morales wins.