Oct. 3: Introductory Meeting: BerkeleyBiodiesel Collective We hold monthly introductory presentations on the firstMonday of (almost) every month. These presentationsare for those who had no contact with the collective, arenew to Biodiesel or know about biodiesel, but are new tothe area. We talk about biodiesel emissions, homebrew-ing, types of vehicles and commercial availability. We willalso talk about what our coop does, its history and vision.And, of course we will talk about how to get involvedwith the BBC or other regional groups. We will try toanswer any questions about biofuels and the local biofu-els scene. 7:30 pm Ecology Center, 2530 San Pablo Ave,near Dwight Way, Berkeley. 510-594-4000 ext. 777,berkeleybiodiesel@yahoo.com,

Oct. 8: Basic Propagation TechniquesGardening ClassGet plants for free; grow your own! Learn (hands-on)how to take cuttings & root them, collect seeds & startseedlings. Be part of making San Francisco greener! Pre-registration required. 10am - noon. Garden for theEnvironment, 780 Frederick Street, San Francisco. Cost:$15. Info: 415-731-5627, sfgcp@yahoo.com,http://www.gardenfortheenvironment.org/.

Oct. 8: The 11th Annual In The StreetFestival Featuring Over 40 performances and installations by more than100 artists. ITS, San Francisco’s most innovative street

theater festival, presents a wide range of experimentaland traditional performances and uses all forms of thestreet, the sidewalks, rooftops, sides of buildings in itspresentations and encourages audience participation.This year features a cross-disciplinary gamut of perform-ers, artists and musicians including dance (belly, butoh,lindy, and hip hop), capoeira, visual arts, circus perform-ance, women’s skateboarding, burlesque, puppetry, firearts, fire sculpture, spoken word, and aerial performanceart. The In The Street Festival is 100% non-commercial:the admission is free, and the festival is vendorless. Thisyear’s festival is dedicated to world peace and to thememory of Tess Manalo-Ventresca, Tenderloin activistand advocate, who passed away this summer. Friday, Oct.7, 5-10pm & Saturday, Oct. 8, 2005, 11am-6pm. 500block of Ellis Street, between Hyde and Leavenworth,San Francisco. More info at: http://www.luggagestore-gallery.org or (415) 255-5971

Saturday Oct. 15, 2005 Queer History TourCelebrate Queer History Month with a tour of San Francisco’s queer neighborhoods fromthe 30’s to the present day. Learn how Halloween wascelebrated as Gay Pride day in pre-stonewall SF. We willvisit sites of queer community and resistance, includingCompton’s Cafeteria . The tour will end at the WildsideWest in Bernal Heights for post-ride drinks and social-izing. 10am-3pm, Justin Herman Plaza (Market @Embarcadero) Co-sponsored by the GLBT HistoricalSociety.

Oct. 16: Poor People's MarchJoin the march to demand: living wage jobs, universalhealth care, affordable housing, quality public education,progressive taxation of corporations and the wealthy.Assemble at 16th St. and Mission at11:30 am, noonmarch to Horace Mann Middle School (3351 – 23rdStreet). For more info contact:San Francisco Living Wage Coalition (415) 863-5543,sflivingwage@gmail.com.

Oct. 20: National Day of Action The 2005National Day of Actionis a call for young people to unitein solidarity across movements, to feel our power, andto secure our freedom. Day of Action is organized everyOct. by young people in their local communities. Theday inspires grassroots activity to fight for reproductive

and sexual freedom, racial and economic justice, andcalls for an end to violence in our communities. Actionshave included teach-ins, marches, candlelight vigils,street theatre, poetry jams and slams, and fundraisersfor local organizations. For information about organiz-ing a Day of Action on your campus or community,visit http://clpp.hampshire.edu/projects/nda, e-mail theCivil Liberties and Public Policy Program atnywda@hampshire.edu, or call (413) 559-6976.

Oct. 23: The 24 Hour (Art) Show 24 Hours 6 Artists. 2 Rooms. 0 Sleep. Time is running out on sixBay Area-based Asian-American women artists as theyescape into two motel rooms in the heart of SanFrancisco on Oct. 22 to conceive, create and unveil newwork... in just 24 hours. The 24 Hour Show wrestles cre-ativity back from the clock as these artists incubate newsite-specific work spanning the mediums of dance, per-formance, written and spoken word, photography andmultimedia. Date: Inspiration strikes at 8 pm onSaturday, Oct. 22 and closes with a reception at 8 pm onSunday, Oct. 23. Valencia St. and Market St., SanFrancisco, CA. Secret location to be unveiled online athttp://24hourshow.com on Oct. 22 at exactly 8 pm. The24 Hour Show presents: Sita Bhaumik, Jez Kuono'onoLee, Mia Nakano, Han Pham, Elizabeth Sy, ShawnTamaribuchi. For more information, emailinfo@24hourshow.com.

Nov. 4-5: Passing—less than satisfactorySo much emphasis in our culture centers around fittinginto oppressive ideals of beauty, respectability andacceptability. How do we challenge these standardsrather than consenting to disappear into them? Are youpassing as the right race, class, gender, sexuality, age,weight, ability and astrological sign (this is Californiaafter all)? A night of performance by local visionaries,curated by Zee Boudreaux. Accompanying art show inlobby gallery and Reception. 8 pm. $10-25.CounterPULSE! 1310 Mission Street @ 9th St.Res/Info: (415) 374-6697. www.counterpulse.org

Calendar

Oct 22 - Oct 23:On The Frontlines: Options for Youth in Times of War A Conference co-sponsored by the Campus Antiwar Network and Military Out of Our Schools (Bay Area) that will bringtogether college students, youth, parents, educators, community activists and organizers. Join us, as we: expose military recruitersand the lies they tell young people; learn ways to get military recruiters out of our schools and communities; and build andstrengthen the counter-recruitment movement. 9:00 am - 5:00 pm, University of California Berkeley.For more information contact: Central Committee for Conscientious Objectors, (510) 763-7078 x307,MOOS-Bay@riseup.net, http://www.objector.org/moos-bay.html.

For More Information or to submit your event, visit www.indybay.org/calendar

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BY LYNDA CARSON

“Sleep tight and don't let the bed bugsbite” is an old saying, as far as sayings go,but some Oakland tenants have learnedthat this is more than just a cute rhyme thathas been passed down through the years.

“I've heard the old saying about bedbugs since I was a child, but I never knewthey were real until moving here,” said 47-year-old Frank Benavidez, resident ofNorth Oakland’s California Hotel. “Thebed bugs are drinking my blood and eatingme alive.”

On Tuesday August 2, 2005, 43 residen-tial tenants of the historic landmarkCalifornia Hotel on San Pablo Ave. inOakland filed a lawsuit at the AlamedaCounty Superior Court House againstOakland Community Housing Inc.(OCHI), a non-profit housing developer.

Mostly occupied by elderly, disabledAfrican-Americans, each of the 43 tenantslisted in the lawsuit are seeking $50,000 indamages over rat infestations, bed bugs,cockroaches and other health and safety issues.

Backing the horrific claims of the ten-ants is a letter sent on July 22, 2005 fromthe Alameda County HealthServices(ACHS), stating that the proce-dures being utilized by OCHI to controlthe bed bugs are inadequate. In the letter,ACHS biologist David K. James wrote, “Asevere Norway rat infestation exists withinthese premises, and it appears that it's along-established and large population.”

Frank Benavidez said, “I can hear therats scratching around in my ceiling at nightand the noise keeps me from sleeping.”

continued on page 4...

Volume 2: Issue 1

N E W S P A P E R O F T H E S F B A Y A R E A I N D E P E N D E N T M E D I A C E N T E RFall 2005www.indybay.org

OAKLANDINFESTATION:TENANTS SUCKEDDRY BY BED BUGS,SLUM LORDS

MALIK RAHIM, A NEW ORLEANS PUBLIC HOUSING ORGANIZER AND VETERAN OF THE BLACK PANTHER PARTY,uncovers a corpse ignored by military and police in his Algiers neighborhood. Urban inequality and re-directed funds made many inNew Orleans vulnerable targets when Hurricane Katrina hit, and governmental disorganization left thousands of people without ade-quate aid or housing. A negligant evacuation effort left over 1,000 people dead in one of the most catastrophic disasters in Americanhistory. Grassroots relief efforts proved highly valuable and organizations were able to reach displaced citizens far more quickly thanthe federal government. When foreign aid was being turned away by thegovernment, independent sources provided food, water, med-ical care and hope for many. New Orleans is now faced with the immense struggle of rebuilding. PHOTO: ANDREWSTERN.NET

2940 16th Street - Suite 216 San Francisco, CA 94103

BY CHRIS CARLSSON

Amazing to think it's been 13 yearssince the first “Commute Clot” broughttogether about 50 bicyclists at “PeeWee”Herman Plaza at the foot of Market Streetin San Francisco. Within a few shortmonths it had gained the moniker “CriticalMass” and the excitement, euphoria, andsheer novelty of an “organized coincidence”that fills the streets with bicycles instead ofcars was rapidly reproducing itself acrossthe planet.

Now there are websites galore docu-menting Critical Masses in towns every-where, from Australia to Italy, Chile toCanada. Of the more than 400 placeswhere Critical Mass rides have taken place,hundreds continue to ride every month. InMay 2005 an “Interplanetary CriticalMass” was held in Rome, Italy, drawing

several thousand riders from around Italyand the world. On Earth Day this pastApril, 10,000 riders staged a “CriticalMass” in Budapest, Hungary. Hundreds ofrides occupy the streets of US cities on the

last Friday of each month, from big citieslike Chicago and Los Angeles, to smallerburgs in the hinterlands like Cincinnati,Ohio, Grand Rapids, Michigan, andPortland, Oregon. And of course thousandsof us are still riding after all these years at

the birthplace here in San Francisco.New York had seen Critical Mass grow

from the mid-1990s until (during their 2003Bikesummer) it finally topped 1000 riderson a gloriously balmy July evening. I wasthere that night, enjoying the thrill of cross-ing the Queensborough Bridge and lookingsouth towards twinkling Manhattan andBrooklyn. The galvanizing impact ofCritical Mass on bike commuting, bikecommunities, and pushing the boundaries ofpolitical imagination and tactics led more orless directly to the now infamous confronta-tion with the NY Police Department duringthe August '04 Republican NationalConvention (RNC), which resulted in thearrest of 264 riders. After an entire year ofillegal and barbaric treatment by the NYPD,cyclists in New York have persevered, as por-trayed in the new documentary “Still We Ride.” continued on page 10...

Critical Mass is ThirteenTHE CULTURE WAR IS OLDER (AND FAR FROM OVER)

SWAT VS. PLUR:POLICE ATTACK UTAH RAVEPAGE 5

X-TREME ARTS:LET THE SKATERSSKATE! PAGE 11

AMERICAS DISGRACE

RESIDENTS OF THE CALIFORNIA HOTEL

SIT IN THE LOBBY OF THE BUILDING

INSIDE ROBERTS: THE FUTURE OF THESUPREME COURT PAGE 9

RACISM • DISASTER PROFITEERING • HOMELAND INSECURITY • CLASS OPPRESSION • ECOCIDE

ANALYSIS OF A CATASROPHE• BAY AREA EXPERIENCES• GRASSROOTS RESPONSE•

WHEN THE BASICALLY INNOCENTCYCLISTS PROTEST BEING TICKET-ED, MANHANDLED, AND OTHERWISE

ABUSED BY THE POLICE, IT ONLYFUELS THE RAGE SIMMERING

INSIDE THE LOCKED-DOWN, UNIN-SPIRED, UNCREATIVE BRAINS OF

THE BOYS AND GIRLS IN BLUE

FREE

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4 | October 2005 | F a u l t L i n e s

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By Kijana Tashiri Askari

"In prison, commitment to revolution has aspecial meaning, and the special price. To beidentified as a revolutionary by the prisonauthorities means an almost permanent denialof parole, a separation from the other prisoners,solitary confinement (usually in maximumsecurity wings of the prison), transfers from oneprison to another, beating, bad food. It bringsdown on you the entire punitive and repressiveforce of a completely totalitarian system."

-Comrade George L. Jackson

It is a historical fact that the U.S. colonyof prisons are an extension of the U.S.Government. By virtue of this prog-enic social relationship, the U.S. colonyof prisons has taken on the distinctivecharacteristic traits of this racist colo-nial empire, known as the (un)UnitedStates of Amerikkka.

This racist government/empire hasa long standing history of waging waragainst people and those who refuse toaccept the social arrangement of beingheld in bondage. The budding/relativeconnection that the U.S. colony of pris-ons has with the U.S. government isthat it operates in a punitive capacity offascism, and sees that the central socialobjective of criminalizing/tormentingus as a people is met by brutal acts ofterror, intimidation and suppression;mainly to prevent those such as myselffrom speaking out in a recalcitrantvoices aimed at educating the peopleabout the truth of our existence, andthe means of betrayal/falsehoods that isassociated with this government.These barbaric acts of terror aredesigned to create a culture of submis-siveness. In light of the imperialisticculture that they aim to perpetuate atour expense of being robbed/exploited, andtrampled over as if we are some kind offloor mat!

You see, the U.S. colony of prisons wasformulated to take of the essential enforce-ment of the U.S. government's politicalagenda of criminalizing and enslaving ourcommunities. This same premise was culti-vated and practriced in the late 60's andearly 70's. This racist government alsorelied on a similar form of despotismthrough their infamous COINTELPROprogram (FBI), that was ran by it's headtyrant J. Edgar Hoover, among others.COINTERPRO's central task was to tar-get/persecute those socio-political entitieswho sought to be freed/liberated from theoppressive grasp of this colonial empire.The groups that were targeted by COINT-ERPRO were numerous, but I'll only pointout two, which were quite prominent dur-ing the late 60’s to the 70's- The BlackPanther Party and The Black LiberationArmy (and any other functionaries whostood in solidarity with, and in support of

the Black Liberation movement, etc.).The FBI had labeled the members/asso-

ciates of these socio-political organizationsas terrorist and imminent threats to thegovernment. Immediately following was aflurry of events which shocked the con-sciousness of many innocents in theoppressed communities. They found them-selves face to face with state terror/repres-sion, by having their doors to their homeskicked in during early morning raids, underthe comical suspicions of harboring/aiding aterrorist. Essentially creating the same hys-teria that oppressed communities are deal-ing with today, in hindsight of the post 9/11patriotic rhetoric. The state terror/repres-sion that our fellow beloved brothas/sistas

endured during the late 60's was definitelysome very trying times, in which some wereable to develop the necessarycharacter/resolve, to dig their feet in, andresist the enemy with this newly discoveredsocial consciousness. But as can be expect-ed, there were many who did not answer thebell. We revolutionaries, prisoners of war,freedom fighters, and progressives continueto ride that momentum in our struggle fortotal liberation in the new millennium.

As circumstances of old remain in place,with this same diabolical Euro-Amerikkkan government still in power,murdering/killing innocents in the spirit ofa so-called "democracy," my people weremain under attack. It's hired hench-men/women since have opressed all thosecourageous comrade in arms from GeorgeL. Jackson; W.L. Nolan; Fred Hampton;Sojourner Truth; Harriet Tubman; MarkClark; Marcus Garvey; Assata Shakur;Angela Davis; Kiilu Nyasha; to your every-day Joe, who refused to accept the oppres-sive bondage of kaptivity that our kaptors

have forge, and continue to forge upon ourexistence. These beautiful, determinedbrothas/sistas were arbitrarily persecutedfor giving a voice to the collective plight ofa protracted struggle that was aimed towardreal freedom.

This historical social relationship of thegovernment/prison regime has paved theway for many state sponsored acts of mur-der/genocide against the revolutionary classof prisoners, that were, and remain heldcaptive in these concrete tombs. I am a liv-ing testament of this political masqueradeof so-called justice.

As a New Afrikan Revolutionary, I havepersonally endured several set-ups by thisprison regime/government in their bid to

criminalize my existence- one whom iscommitted to struggling to liberate hispeople, to an individual whom isdeemed to be a threat to the safety/secu-rity of some uniform of law, that I'venever agreed to abide by. The mostrecent occurrence of political persecu-tion that I was involved in occurred oneafternoon as I was coming in from theS.H.U. exercise yard. As I was patientlywaiting in front of my cell door, so thatI could re-enter my cell, it just so hap-pens, that there was an oppressive psy-chopath working in the controlbooth/gun tower that afternoon, whomdecided to pop open the cell door of awhite supremacist prisoner. He thentried to attack me, but little did he know,he was in for quite a surprise!

He had run right into the wrath ofone skilled/determine New Afrikan,who wasn't about to be a victim ofracist hatred. This was supposed to bean ambush on my life, as my kaptors allstood in shock astonishment, while alsorandomly commenting; "That guymust not had been ready for you, asthat guy is pretty dangerous!" I am not

moved by such a pseudo-flattery, as I amwell aware of these racist pigs central task inperpetrating a culture, that is featured in acycle of one against another. In spite of thisambush on my life, I refuse to be intimidat-ed/frightened away from the stance that Ihave taken! I will forever remain commit-ted to the struggle in seeking to liberate mypeople, even at the expense of my life, as mylife belongs to the people.

For more info contact me at:Kijana Tashiri AskariS/N M. Harrison #H54077SHU D3-124P.O.Box 7500Crescent City, CA 95531-7500

Sponsored by:The New Afrikan Collective Think

Tank (N.A.C.T.T.)

Political Persecution:FROM THE SET-UP TO THE AMBUSH...

Self-Portrait by Kijana Tashiri Askari

voices behindbars

F a u l t L i n e s | October 2005 | 5

Iraq Carnage: Bloodiest Post-War Month U.S raids Tal Afar, blames Zarqawi

While much of the country's attentionremained focused on the fallout fromHurricane Katrina, massive offensives inIraq from both U.S. and insurgent forcesunleashed a torrent of bloodshed, makingSeptember an especially deadly month. Atleast 116 Iraqi forces and 346 Iraqi civilianshave been killed in insurgent violence dur-ing the first 17 days of September alone.

One two day periodin Baghdad duringthe second week ofthe month left nearly190 people killed in aseries of bombingsand shootings. Dailyviolence on that scalehas not been seen inBaghdad since the2003 invasion.

Shiites and otherIraqis cooperatingwith the U.S. occu-pation have been theprimary targets of

the recent insurgent violence. U.S. forcesare still killed on a daily basis and the over-all U.S. death toll is quickly nearing 2000.Yet the tactics of some insurgents are clear-ly shifting towards further expanding thealready bloody civil conflict sparked andfueled by a continued U.S.-led occupation.Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the suspectedleader of Al Qaida in Iraq has claimed

responsibility for much of the violence. Ina recent communiqué, Zarqawi declared a"full-scale war on Shiites all over Iraq,wherever and whenever they are found."

This massive bloodshed has coincidedwith U.S.-led offensives across the northand west of the country. The largest suchoperation has been aimed at the city of TalAfar in the north, leading to a humanitari-an catastrophe and the forced exodus ofmuch of Tal Afar's population of 300,000.6000 U.S. troops backed by 4000 Iraqi sol-diers laid siege to this city in a similar fash-ion as the devastating siege of Falluja dur-ing April 2004. A near complete mediablackout of the developments in Tal Afarhas prevented the disclosure of any accuratebody count but it is likely the offensive hasunleashed carnage on the same scale orgreater than the recent insurgent violencein Baghdad.

The U.S. military has continually citedZaraqawi and his organization as the pri-mary target of their recent assaults.Similarly, Zarqawi has suggested the recent

bombings were revenge for attacks onSunnis in Tal Afar. Yet Tal Afar is a pre-dominantly Turkomen city and Sunnismake up a small minority of the overallpopulation and the resistance in the city isclearly not foreign terrorists but local resi-dents resisting the U.S. occupation.Regardless of the fact that their numbersremain small and their ideology does notreflect much of the diverse Iraqi resistance,Zarqawi has become the perfect excuse forU.S. operations.

MORE INFORMATION:

INDYBAY.ORG/INTERNATIONAL/IRAQ

On Friday, September 9, US filmmakerKevin Pina and Haitian journalist JeanRestil Jean-Baptiste were arrested byHaitian National Police (HNP). At thetime, they were attempting to observe apolice search of the residence of FatherGerard Jean-Juste, an AmnestyInternational-designated prisoner of con-science. Activists hope their arrest willattract more attention to the dire situationof political prisoners in Haiti.

Pina and Ristil were being held in asmall cell with six other men. In the brieftime I was allowed to speak to him, Pinaexplained that he and Ristil were coveringthe search of Jean-Juste's property becauseof concern that weapons might be plantedif no reporters were present. Both Pina andRistil have previously faced harassment atthe hands of Haitian police.

After international pressure made theunlawful incarceration high-profile, thetwo men were released on September 12with no charges. Unfortunately, there arestill more than 1,000 other political prison-ers behind bars that have been incarceratedsince the February 29, 2004 U.S.-backedcoup which ousted President Jean-Bertrand Aristide and his government.Their imprisonment has been facilitated bya demonization of ousted PresidentAristide's Lavalas Party waged by Haiti◊selite-owned right-wing media.

Lavalas has maintained consistentdemands regarding Haitian elections thatthe U.S., Canada and France have arrangedfor November and December. The partycontinues to argue that elections cannot befree and fair unless extra-judicial execu-tions, rapes, and other repression of Lavalassupporters ends, political prisoners arefreed, and President Aristide and otherexiles are allowed to return to Haiti to helprestore constitutional democracy. Manypoor Haitians were hoping Jean-Justewould be named as a presidential candi-date, but electoral authorities blockedattempts to register the priest.

Mario Joseph, Jean-Juste's Port-au-

Prince based lawyer, told me, "The Fatherhas the trust and love of the people for allhe has done for them, which is why thegovernment wants to stop him and he is injail. The U.S. embassy and UN don't wantto use him as a peacemaker, because thatwould make him politically stronger and athreat to elite interests."

Prime Minister Yvon Neptune, anotherhigh profile prisoner the coup regime isrefusing to release despite sustained inter-national pressure, is confined in a separatewing of the facility Jean-Juste has beenmoved to. Jean-Juste has not been allowedto visit Neptune, but briefly saw him andsaid his health was "bad". Jean-Juste him-self is in need of blood and other tests,which he has not yet received. When Iasked if he felt confident of his security inthe current facility, he answered "no". The

priest expressed appreciation for interna-tional solidarity, and asked that it be con-tinued as much as possible. To disheartenedfellow Haitians, he said, "Don't cry toomuch, there's work to do. Let's do it."

MORE INFO: HAITIACTION.NET

Haiti’s Cops on Rampage

A plainclothes Haitian police officer stands next to corpse ofLavalas demonstrator after planting a handgun. An anonymousjournalist declared, "I filmed the dead bodies of demonstratorskilled by the police. The police put a gun in the left hand of oneof the corpses. After they saw me filming they asked me tocome and film the gun in his hand. I couldn't believe it."-Photo and caption from Haiti Information Project

Lavalas crackdown continues,U.S. journalist arrestedBY BEN TERRAL

0925AT_775x5ad.pdf 9/25/05 10:30:10 PM0925AT_775x5ad.pdf 9/25/05 10:30:10 PM

4 | October 2005 | F a u l t L i n e s

Built in 1929 and presentlyvalued at $4,853,722, OCHIbought the historic 150 unitCalifornia Hotel in 1990 for$1,910,000.

The tenants reside in SingleRoom Occupancy units(SROs), and pay their rent bythe month. “We are chargedeither $395.00 for a basic roomper month or as much as$466.00 a month for a smallkitchenette,” said three-yeartenant Lisa Grisolia. “Theycharge us an extra $7.50 a nightif we have a guest stay over.”

According to Grisolia, afterthe lawsuit was filed OCHImanagement moved quickly toclean up the building. “I neverseen them move so fast to cleanup this mess since movinghere,” Grisolia said.

The filed complaint/lawsuitalso detailed such problems asinadequate and defective elec-trical systems and outlets,including exposed wiring,defective plumbing, infestationof vermin, roaches and insects,in addition to other dangerous,inhospitable conditions.

“I believe that OCHI andthis property is being run byslumlords, and they are suckingthe system dry,” said tenantactivist Linda Stephens, whostarted the tenant rebellion atthe property after contactinglocal attorney John Murcko for assistance.

“It's a terrible situation withfleas, rats, bed bugs, and badodors coming from the ventsand the floors,” Murcko said.“It's the worst infestation I haveseen in the last 20 years as anattorney. OCHI received anotice last November from vec-tor control and nothing was done.”

According to Stephens,OCHI is still making big prof-

its, despite the deplorable con-ditions. She said, “These guysare really raking in the doughfrom plenty of HUD funding,because tenants normally pay$395.00 a month, but whenthey move in tenants from theShelter Plus Program which issubsidized by local housingauthorities using HUD fund-ing, OCHI then charges$795.00 a month for the sameunit.”

According to RashidMohammed, the lead desk clerk

at the California Hotel, they arecurrently accepting applicationsand are presently asking$622.00 per month for someunits and $645.00 a month forlarger units.

Eleanor Piez, director ofcommunity relations for OCHIsaid, “We know there are someserious problems with rats andbed bugs, and we have facedsome difficult repairs latelywhile installing a new sprinklersystem.”

“If the tenants had commu-nicated closer with manage-

ment about these problemsinstead of going to the courts orthe media, our problems wouldnot be as severe as they current-ly are. Now it's totally adversar-ial and very tense,” said Piez.“We have 120 tenants and 150units, and believe that the infes-tations became worse due tomoving the tenants around todifferent rooms while therepairs have beengoing on lately.”

Indeed, bed bugs have madea big comeback in recent years

and are increasinglyfound in shelters,apartments, and hotels.Bed bugs are active atnight while sucking theblood of sleepinghumans and they liketo hide during the day-light hours close towhere people usuallysleep at night. Oncethey pierce the skin oftheir victim with anelongated beakthrough which theycan suck the blood oftheir prey, they feed foraround three to tenminutes until full.

Repeated efforts toreach Dwight

Dickerson, executive director ofOCHI, have not been success-ful, but records show that whilehis tenants at the CaliforniaHotel have been plagued by ratsand bed bugs, Dickerson him-self is raking in well over$80,000 a year from his salary,plus extras.

Recent records indicate thatit would be difficult for OCHIto blame budget woes on itsfailure to rid the CaliforniaHotel of its dangerous infesta-tion. With nearly 1,000 rentalunits under their control,

records show that from 2002through 2003, OCHI profitedby as much as $2,203,920 forservices performed, merchan-dise, gifts, and other relatedactivities of the non-profithousing organization.According to its website, OCHIhas developed over 1,000 unitsof affordable housing since theorganization was formed in1973, and it currently managesover 900 units.

However, despite the multi-million dollar profits of theirlandlord, OCHI’s SRO tenantsare forced to live in truly night-marish conditions. “A fewmonths back, we had a deadman here for 12 days in hisroom before the body was dis-covered, and the smell of deadrats in the walls were so strongthat we could not make the dis-tinction between the dead man'sbody and the dead rats in thewalls,” said Linda Stephens.

“Now they are spreadinglime around the building to killthe stench of all the dead rats inthe walls,” Stephens added.“This is a national historicbuilding with Black Heritage,and it really angers me to seehow OCHI has exploited andsucked up every last dime theycan get out of this building.Many of us residing here are theworking class poor, but DwightDickerson and the managementstaff of OCHI are trying topaint most of us as being men-tally challenged, in an effort todivert attention away from theslum-like conditions that theyhave had us residing in.”

Lynda Carson may be reachedat tenantsrule@yahoo.com or(510)763-1085

OAKLAND INFESTATION

BY TOM WETZEL

Several thousand passengers rode thebuses for free in San Francisco onThursday, September 1, the opening day ofa fare strike in North America’s most bus-intensive city. In the days leading up toSeptember 1, 20,000 leaflets and 10,000stickers in English, Chinese, and Spanishwere attached to bus shelters and polesthroughout the city to promote the strike.

As well as raising fares to $1.50, MUNIhas slashed service on many lines, startingSeptember 24. Layoff notices were issuedearlier in the year to 150 drivers. MUNImanagement is eliminating 83 of these jobsthrough early retirement and for the rest ofthe job cuts, they’re firing all of the part-timers.

The fare strike has three demands: Nofare hike, no service cuts, no layoffs.

On the morning of September 1, farestrike groups focused on eight majornodes in the MUNI bus network withbanners, strike placards, bullhorns, andleaflets. About half of these nodes were onthe Mission-Van Ness corridor. With over85,000 rides on a typical weekday,Mission-Van Ness is one of the world’sbusiest bus operations. In the heart of SanFrancisco’s Mission District, local daylaborers got involved in the fare strikecampaign and took over the tabling andleafleting in areas of the city with largenumbers of Spanish-speaking immigrants.

Security assistants were specially hiredto herd passengers away from the reardoors. This led to an incident at 16th andMission where a female security assistantillegally grabbed a man by his pants as hewas entering through the rear door, result-ing in a physical altercation. The passen-ger was hauled off the bus andtaken to jail, charged with assault.

Fare strike advo-cates distributedleaflets with thedemands of the farestrike but in the shapeand graphic style of aMuni bus transfer, andreproduced on the same flim-sy newsprint. These transfer-shapedleaflets were very popular with riders.They felt more comfortable with some-thing they could flash to the drivers.

Heavy security where fare strike groupswere visibly concentrated was intended tointimidate both drivers and riders fromparticipating in the fare strike.Meanwhile, small teams of fare strikeactivists were surfing the bus lines in var-ious neighborhoods, getting off at busystops and then bringing on groups of peo-ple to ride for free with them. Their hopeis that people will get comfortable withthe idea and then do it on their own.

Working With the DriversThe young anarchists who formed

MUNI Social Strike wanted to encourage adriver/rider alliance in San Francisco. Forseveral months, the Social Strike groupfocused its efforts on outreach to the driv-

ers.Some drivers

were playing by theMuni manage-ment gameplan, refusing tomove the bus if

people didn’t pay.But this seemed

to be a smallminority. As some MUNI

drivers told us, the union contract onlyrequires the drivers to tell people what thefare is. In one incident, when an activistannounced he was on fare strike, the driversaid “The fare is $1.50. You know therules.” She then stared straight ahead,smiling as he moved into the bus withoutpaying. On another occasion, when a groupof people got on the bus with money intheir hands, ready to pay, the driver toldthem “Why pay? Today is the fare strike.”

To read a longer version of this accountvisit the Muni Social Strike website atwww.socialstrike.net.

More information also available atwww.munifairstrike.net

continued from front page

The Social Strike Continues

Resident Lisa G. reveales a fresh spider bite

UFW Victory FollowsGallo Boycott

The United Farm Workers and GalloVineyards Inc. have reached an agreementon a new contract providing Gallo ofSonoma workers with many importantgains. The workers voted nearly unani-mously to ratify the agreement. The Gallowine boycott has ended.

The Sonoma workers will see their basehourly pay rise 9.5% to $8.98 by the end ofthe 30-month contract. In addition, 228contract employees will for the first timehave the right to file grievances over disci-pline and seniority issues.

Gallo employs more than 4,400 workersand produced about 58 million cases ofCalifornia wine last year, accounting forabout one of every four bottles made in the state.

Berkeley uses biodieselto slash carbon emis-

sionsBerkeley reduced greenhouse gas emis-

sions in the city by 14 percent during thepast two years with conservation measuresthat included running cars on vegetable oil,according to city officials.

The dramatic drop in carbon emissionsputs Berkeley at the forefront of a handfulof cities that are legally committing them-selves to reducing the pollution that manyscientists have blamed for global warming.

''Berkeley's groundbreaking efforts to bea model environmental city are beginningto show dramatic results,'' said BerkeleyMayor Tom Bates.

The city calculated that its carbon emis-sions in 2004 were 2,066 metric tons lessthan its baseline number. To get equivalentair-quality benefits, the city would have hadto plant 52,000 trees or remove 450 carsfrom the road, Bates said.

The greatest cut in greenhouse gases, 47percent, came from city vehicles -- particu-larly as a result of the use of biodiesel fuelbut also through use of electric, natural gasand hybrid electric-gasoline powered vehicles.

Bubonic Plague-Infested Mice

Disappear from Bio-ter-ror Lab.

Three mice infected with the bacteriathat causes bubonic plague disappearedfrom a laboratory in Newark, NJ, in earlySeptember. The mice are missing from thePublic Health Research Institute at theUniversity of Medicine and Dentistry. Thislab conducts bio-terrorism research for thefederal government. One of the ways peoplecontract bubonic plague is from infectedrodents.

The three missing mice are from agroup of 24 mice who have been inject-ed with a bacterium that causes variousforms of the plague, including bubonicplague. These mice are part of a mas-sive government project to develop vac-cines against biological weapons.

NewswireNewswireA Report from theMUNI fare strike

F a u l t L i n e s | October 2005 | 5

BY SONYA MEHTA

Rafa Gutierrez and over 180 otherCheesecake Factory restaurant workersknow what it’s like to savor the sweet tasteof justice. Through organizing theircoworkers, taking legal action, and teamingup with community organization YoungWorkers United (YWU), former and cur-rent Cheesecake Factory workers across thestate have won a $4.5 million settlementand seen concrete improvements at their work.

From 2001 to 2004, the CheesecakeFactory management denied workers theirlegal right to a break after six hours of workin the busiestand most prof-itable restau-rant in SanF r a n c i s c o .Workers werecompelled to work while hungry and tired.Former server and YWU member PattySenecal recalls: “I was on my feet for eighthours a day! I couldn’t eat or sit down. Iwould be running from table to table,sneaking candy in the bathroom.” Afterresearch into labor law, Marilyn and othersstarted organizing their coworkers to fileclaims with the Division of LaborStandards and Enforcement, the stateagency in charge of enforcing labor law.Claims ranged from a few hundred to tensof thousands of dollars. At the same time alawsuit was filed in Southern California.

The Division of Labor StandardsEnforcement (DLSE) watched the numberof claims rise to over 80. CheesecakeFactory workers waited more than a yearfor a response. Towards the end of that

year, YWU organizers met Marilyn duringtheir frequent restaurant outreach. Marilynlaughs when she recalls the meeting. “Theorganizers asked how conditions were atthe Cheesecake. I told them things arehorrible! At that point we had been wait-ing on the DLSE for a year.”

Young Workers United is a communityand workers’ center dedicated to improvingconditions for service sector workers.YWU and former and current Cheesecakeworkers started meeting regularly as anorganizing committee. After analyzing theconditions at work, the organizing commit-tee came up with a list of demands includ-

ing back pay, respect, fairer systems forschedules and promotions, and no retalia-tion for organizing activities. They thenplanned a campaign for worker organizingand community solidarity to pressureCheesecake.

Workers gave each other flyers at workand defended each other when called in fordiscipline. Workers and allies formed dele-gations to confront the management. Thecommunity was highly supportive of work-ers and participated in a call-in to the com-pany as well as actions of upwards of 80people. San Francisco Supervisor ChrisDaly and former Supervisor MattGonzalez spoke at the rallies. Four otherSupervisors signed an Appeal for Justice tothe corporation. YWU also went into therestaurant and released balloons with “jus-

tice” and “breaks” written on them.Meanwhile, other YWUers were handingout flyers and informing customers of thelabor violations.

As YWU’s actions escalated through2004 and 2005, Cheesecake Factory had tochange their breaks system and began pay-ing servers higher wages instead of makingthe workers on break pay their substitute $5to take their table. In the kitchen, workerssaw huge improvements through their col-lective action. Management was forced tostop changing timecards and chargingworkers for food. When managementwould randomly harass, fire, or deny some-

one unemploy-ment benefits,YWU was ableto immediatelyrespond withaction on theinside.

In December, GovernorSchwarzenegger changed break law, lettingcorporations with pending lawsuits off thehook. Cheesecake settled despite the newlaw because of worker and communitypressure. Cheesecake Factory claimantsand other restaurant workers held a pressconference Thursday, September 1 toannounce the successful settlement of theCheesecake lawsuit and to discuss currentstruggles. Sonia Cano, a YWU memberand restaurant worker, told the crowd,“This is not an isolated incident.Violations are standard in the restaurantindustry and we have to fight as workersand the community to get our rights.”

Contact Young Workers United at 415-621-4155 or workingyouth@hotmail.com

Last night, I was booked to play anevent near Salt Lake City, Utah. The hypewas huge, they presold 700 tickets and theyexpected up to 3,000 people. The show wasall outdoors, in a valley surrounded by hugemountains. They had an amazing lightshow flashing onto a mountain behind thesite, the sound was booming and every-thing just seemed too good to be true...

At about 11:30, I was standing behindthe stage when I noticed a helicopterpulling over one of the mountain tops. Ijokingly said, “Oh look, here comes BigBrother” to the person I was with—I was-n't far off. The helicopter dipped lower andlower and shined its lights on the crowd. Iwas kind of in awe as this thing circling us,but then I looked towards the crowd andsaw a guy dressed in camouflage walkingby, toting an assault rifle. At this point, afew “troops” rushed the stage and cut thesound off and started yelling that everyone“get the fuck out of here or go to jail.” Thisis where it got really sticky.

No one resisted. That's for sure. I sawone of the police dogs signal out a guy whoobviously had some drugs on him. The sol-diers attacked the guy (four of them onone), and kicked him in the ribs and hadtheir knees in his back and sides. As theywere cuffing him, there were about 1,000kids trying to leave in the backdrop,peacefully. Right then, a can of fuck-ing TEAR GAS is launched into thecrowd. People are running andscreaming at this point. Girls arecrying, guys are cussing. . . badscene.

Now, this is all I saw with my own eyes,but I heard plenty of other accounts of thenight. This isn’t gossip I heard from somecandy raver, these are instances citedstraight out of the promoter’s mouth:

-One of the promoter’s friends (a verysmall female) was attacked by one of thepolice dogs. As she struggled to get awayfrom it, the police tackled her. Three grownmen proceeded to KICK HER IN THESTOMACH.

-The police confiscated at least threevideo tapes.

-When the main promoter tried to showthe police that he had a permit, they said,“No, you don't,” ripped the permit from hishand, put an assault rifle to his foreheadand said, “Get the fuck out of here right

now.”Now, let's get the

facts straighthere—this event

was 100%legal. They

had everyp e r m i t

the cityt o l d

them they needed. They had a 2 MIL-LION DOLLAR insurance policy for theevent. They had licensed security guards atthe gates confiscating any alcohol or drugsfound upon entry ( the security guards wereall arrested for possession).

Oh, another interesting fact: The policedid not have a warrant. The owner of theland already has a lawsuit against the cityfor a party they busted on her land a fewmonths ago (at which they didn’t arrest her,but they FORCED HER TOLEAVEHER OWN PERSONAL PROPERTY!).

Don't get it twisted, this is all goingdown in probably THE most conservativestate in the USA. Even though everythingabout this event was legal, the police want-ed this party shut down, so they made ithappen. The promoters spent over $20,000on this show and did everything they hadto make it legit, only to have it taken awayfrom them by a group of radical neo-conswith an agenda.

This was one of the scariest things Ihave ever witnessed in person. I can't evenbegin to describe how surreal it was.Helicopters, assault rifles, tear gas,camoflauge-wearing soldiers.... why? Wasthat really necessary?

This needs to be big news across theUSofA, especially in our music scene (elec-tronic dance music, as a whole). This couldhappen to any of us at any time. When

we're losing the right to gather peaceful-ly, we're also letting the police set a

standard of what we can get awaywith. And I think that's

BULLSHIT!

Utah Cops Squash Legal Rave

A DJ DESCRIBES THE POLICE BRUTALITY AT DANCE PARTY

Young Workers United Wins $4.5 Million

“They treated us like servants, but people united and foughtfor their rights. Cheesecake knows now they can’t treat us

like that.” Rafael Gutierrez, former Cheesecake Factory cook

Utah Cops Squash Legal Ravewith Helicopters, Teargaswith Helicopters, TeargasB Y

A P O L L O

U.S. Poultry GiantUnder Fire After

Segregation Scandal isRevealed

A group of black workers is suing theworld's largest poultry meat producer,accusing it of tolerating a racist workplacewhere African Americans were routinelyabused and a "whites only" sign was pinnedto the lavatory door.

Tyson Foods is accused by 13 workers ofmaintaining a segregated system in a breakarea at one of its plants in Ashland, AL,that was "reminiscent of the Jim Crow era".

In addition to the posting of the "whitesonly" sign, the workers allege that the lava-tory was padlocked and only white workerswere given a key, that workers hung a noosein one of the recreation rooms, and annotat-ed a picture of monkeys with the names ofblack staff. When the workers complained,they say the plant manager told them thefacilities had been locked because they were"nasty, dirty [and] behaved like children."

Speaking for the first time about thelawsuit, Jake Whetstone, one of the work-ers, told The Independent: "When I saw thatsign it really hurt me. I'm 50. I grew up dur-ing a time when there was segregation. Ithought we had gotten over it and movedon, but seeing that sign I had a flashback."(Andrew Buncombe/Independent UK)

Nike Pulls MajorThreat Ad, Issues

Apology

Earlier this summer, NikeSkateboarding used a classic Minor Threatalbum cover for its "Major Threat" 2005East Coast Tour posters without askingpermission. According to DischordRecords, “Nike never contacted Dischord toobtain permission to use this imagery, norwas any permission granted. Simply put,Nike stole it and we're not happy about it.”Following this outraged response fromDischord (and their fans, who bombardedNike with angry phone calls and emails),Nike pulled the ad and issued a formalapology.

In its letter of mea culpa, NikeSkateboarding states, "Because of thealbum's strong imagery, and because ourEast Coast tour ends in Washington, DC,we felt it was a perfect fit. This was a poorjudgment call and should not have beenexecuted without consulting Minor Threatand Dischord Records."

In an attempt to make peace with thelegendary hardcore band, the letter extendsthis olive branch: "All of the Nike employ-ees responsible for the creation of the tourflyer are fans of both Minor Threat andDischord records [sic] and have nothing butrespect for both."

Dischord decided not to take legalaction against Nike, but posted this messageto it’s website: “It is disheartening to us tothink that Nike may be successful in usingthis imagery to fool kids, just beginning tobecoming familiar with skate culture,underground music and DIY ideals, intothinking that the general ethos of this label,and Minor Threat in particular, can some-how be linked to Nike's mission.”

NewswireNewswire

BY ROBERT CADWELL

Most residents of New Orleans wereunaware of the potential destruction ofKatrina until Saturday, August 28, less than48 hours before it struck. HurricaneKatrina was the most awesome disaster thatLouisiana has ever seen. But the deadlyresults of Katrina were as much a productof human callousness as an act of nature.The world watched as people were herdedinto the Superdome only to find themselves

in a wretched and unsanitaryplace without food, water, orproper medical care. Those inareas of high flooding fled torooftops begging rescue heli-copters to save them. Manydied trapped in their attics orwaiting to be rescued.Meanwhile, several policeofficers were dispatched toprotect property from looters.As Hurricane Katrina prom-ises to be the new textbookcase for urban "natural" dis-asters, social dislocation, and(lack of ) urban planning, it’simportant to examine thefailed policies that con-tributed to the disaster.

MISGUIDED PRIORITIES

Social services are unde-funded while working peopledepend on low wage servicejobs and send their kids to

dysfunctional public schools. Largely, thecity depends on the scraps of the tourismindustry for its sustenance. Therefore, it’s ofno surprise that in the lead up to Katrina,hurricane preparedness was woefullyunder-funded by the federal government.President Bush and Congress ignored thosewho explained that solid infrastructurewould prevent flooding in New Orleans inthe event of a levy break. According tocolumnist Sidney Blumenthal, "FEMAwarned that a hurricane striking New

Orleans was one of the three most likelydisasters in the U.S. But the Bush adminis-tration cut New Orleans flood controlfunding by 44 percent to pay for the Iraqwar." Beyond the monetary cost, almosthalf of the Louisiana National Guard wasdeployed outside the state when the hurri-cane hit. Meanwhile, about 3,000 membersof the 256th Infantry Brigade wereequipped with high water gear in Iraq.

RACE AND CLASS DYNAMICS Katrina wasn’t the first hurricane, or the

first major flooding disaster, to hitLouisiana. During Hurricane Betsy, LowerNinth Ward, an area almost entirely underthe poverty line and 99 percent Black wasintentionally flooded to "save" the wealthywhite uptown neighborhoods.

The poverty and blackness of thosebearing the brunt of the hurricane is obvi-ous to anyone. The plight of these victimsunderscores the existing race and classinequalities in New Orleans, but also pro-vides a lens through which to understandanother facet of racism that is ever-presentin the U.S. poor people were the least pre-pared for a hurricane.

During a benefit concert, rapper KanyeWest explains: "George Bush doesn't careabout Black people, …[America was setup] to help the poor, Blacks, and the lesswell-off as slow as possible.” TulaneHospital (a private hospital) was evacuatedwell before Charity Hospital, the region'strauma hospital whose patients are poorand predominantly Black.

There is also a surge in more explicitracism. According to Malik Rahim, whitevigilante gangs were patrolling Algiers, rid-ing around in pickup trucks, armed, andsearching for young Blacks whom they fig-ured didn’t belong in their community.

BLAMING VICTIMSBoth former FEMA chief Michael

Brown and the media were announcingthat the high death toll would be "attribut-able a lot to people who didn’t heedadvance warnings." Brown's commentssuggest that hundreds chose not to evacu-ate, but the reality is that hundreds of NewOrleanians didn’t have the means to com-ply with an evacuation order.

Reporters and right-wing Internet trollsfilled news outlets and message boards withstories of looting, while thousands in thecity begged for help. The lawlessness oflooting, full of drama and intrigue of savageBlacks, provided a narrative that shiftedaway from the thousands still stuck in thehorror and the political decisions that keptthem there.

Officials comforted tense onlookerswith a promise of order: they would usetroops to protect stores from looting. Butby doing so, they shifted scarce resourcesaway from the search, rescue, and evacua-tion of residents whose lives they deemedless important. As convoys of NationalGuard reinforcements finally rolled intoNew Orleans, Louisiana GovernorKathleen Blanco used the occasion to warnlooters and assure the ruling class thattroops were under her orders to "shoot andkill" if needed.

LACKLUSTER RESPONSE The response from Federal agencies was

too little too late. While the U.S. has a his-tory of dropping humanitarian relief tofamine and disaster

Mali'q Williams lies on a cot in the Houston Astrodome. Heescaped from New Orleans with his family. Their home wascompletely destroyed and they lost all of their possesions. Theymade it to the roof of the Mahalia Jackson school and wereeventually rescued from the roof by a Coast Guard helicopter andthen transported to Houston in a bus. PHOTO: ANDREWSTERN.NET

BY HUNTER JACKSON

In the wake of botched relief efforts onthe state and federal levels, grassroots vol-unteers from around the country have trav-eled to New Orleans to provide mutual aid

to underserved and ignored parts of theravaged city. Free from the constraints ofexcessive regulations and bureaucracy, inmany cases these groups are doing far morethan government agencies to address theneeds of those still in New Orleans.

Much of the grassroots response is con-centrated in Algiers, a predominately blackneighborhood across the Mississippi Riverfrom downtown that was not flooded dur-ing Hurricane Katrina. As a result, sur-vivors gravitated towards the area, one ofthe few not destroyed. Nonetheless, theFederal Emergency Management Agency(FEMA) and the Red Cross, two of themost visible relief organizations, have beenlargely absent from the neighborhood andits inhabitants left to fend for themselves.

“Nobody in the state, federal, or localgovernment is interested in helping us,”says Malik Rahim, former Black Pantherand long-time resident of Algiers.

To fill the gaps, radical grassroots groupshave stepped up to offer support to the

neglected people of Algiers. When medicsfrom Mayday DC, a housing activist group,reached the neighborhood nearly twoweeks after the hurricane hit, they broughtthe first medical care its residents had seen.Now Algiers has Food Not Bombs servingregular hot meals, a pirate radio stationcalled “The Battle of Algiers,” andCommon Ground, a fully functioningmedical clinic and mutual aid collective. Incontradiction to the mass media reports ofchaos and looting, Algiers has seen an out-pouring of solidarity and constructivecooperation as its residents work with vol-unteers to rebuild their community.

Common Ground is providing manylocal residents with the first primary carethey’ve received in years. The clinic isstocked with both medical and non-med-ical supplies and has been treating 50patients or more a day. Medics on bikespatrol the streets and make visits to thoseunable to leave their homes.

But the clinic is not simply a charity—it’s an exercise in solidarity. “We’re takingevery opportunity to incorporate commu-nity members into the working of the clin-ic,” says Dr. Michael Kozart, a member ofthe Bay Area Radical Health Collective.Volunteers are teaching interested people

how to take blood pressures and maintainmedical charts so they can help out. Plansare in the works for free health care classes.

In contrast, the government responsehas been largely militaristic and unproduc-tive—soldiers, police, and contracted pri-vate security forces roam the streets, enforc-ing a dusk-to-dawn curfew and martial law.Though the military reportedly asked forassistance from Common Ground’s doctorsand medics, they have since begun workingto duplicate the collective’s efforts and opentheir own clinic.

“Nobody wants to get [medical] carefrom people dressed up in military gearwho drive around in shiny new Humvees,”Kozart says. “They are scaring the shit outof people.”

Common Ground intends to remainopen as long as possible and establish satel-lite clinics in other neighborhoods. “Thisplace is my home now,” says Noah, anEMT volunteer from Rhode Island. “I cancome back to Algiers anytime and I’ll bewelcomed with open arms.”

More information about CommonGround can be found at:www.commongroundrelief.org

Common Ground Health Clinic offerstemporary assistance and mutual aidto the people of Algiers. PHOTO: BRADLEY ALLEN

6 | October 2005 | F a u l t L i n e s

2001- The Federal Emergency ManagementAgency: a major hurricane hitting NewOrleans is one of the three "likeliest, mostcatastrophic disasters facing this country."

MARCH, 2003- The U.S. invades Iraq and40% of Mississippi's National Guard force and35% of Louisiana's are eventually deployed inthe ongoing occupation.

MARCH, 2003- FEMA becomes part of theDepartment of Homeland Security, within theEmergency Planning and ResponseDirectorate.

APRIL 28, 2004- Two Lousisiana Senatorsask the federal government for more moneyfor environmental restoration and water proj-ects and receive little of their request

MAY 1, 2005- With no public announcementthe U.S.awards Haliburton subsidiary KBR 4.9billion dollars in contracts for work on militarybases in Iraq

AUGUST 23, 2005- a Tropical DepressionTwelve had formed over the southeasternBahamas.

AUGUST 24, 2005- Katrina becomes aCategory 1 hurricane, as it creeps toward anovernight landfall killing two on Florida'ssoutheast coast

AUGUST 25, 2005- Louisiana GovernorKathleen Blanco declares state of emergency.-The storm is the fourth hurricane of the 2005season, and at least 11 deaths are attributedto it in Florida so far.

AUGUST 27, 2005- President Bush declares astate of emergency in Louisiana

AUGUST 28, 2005- New Orleans’ Mayor RayNagin orders a mandatory evacuation of the.For residents who lacked the means to leavethe city, Nagin orders the Superdome openedas a shelter of last resort.

AUGUST 29, 2005- Katrina makes Landfall inLouisiana at 6:10am -17th street Canal levee breaks in NewOrleans.-The Red Cross, while providing relief andsupport across the Gulf Coast, does not enterNew Orleans-President Bush shares birthday photo-op atLuke AFB in Arizona with Senator John McCain.AUGUST 30, 2005- Thousands of people are

stranded in flooded homes, attics androoftops across the city.-The number of evacuees in the Superdomeswells to 20,000 and many more flee to thecity’s Convention Center.

AUGUST 31, 2005- 80 percent of NewOrleans is underwater. The city has no elec-tricity and little drinkable water.-Bush declares a Public Health Emergencyalong the Gulf Coast-As Air Force One flies over the Gulf Coast,the pilot descends for the President to take aglimpse at the devastation. He then returns tothe White House, ending his vacation prematurely. -Some 6,000 members of the Louisiana andMississippi Guard have been forced to watchthe catastrophe from 7,000 miles away in Iraq.

-FEMA's lists Operfounded by Christian televRobertson as one of it’taking relief donations.

SEPTEMBER 1,Ray Nagin issues a -Fights and firthe open, and renforcement officers werstricken New Orleans slipped tow-A "witch's brcals, sewage,through New Orleans and the wLouisiana and other US coastal states.-The U.S. Navy asks Halliburton to rnaval facilities destroKatrina. The wsubsidiary, KBR,

NEW ORLEANS:the making of anurban catasrophe

SOLIDARITY CHARITY:

Grassroots ReliefEfforts Fill in the

Gaps in New Orleans

NOT

continued on next page...

Bay Area residents and emergency medical service workersLorrie Beth Slonsky and Larry Bradshaw were in New Orleans,attending a conference, during the levee disaster.Their story, pub-lished the day they were airlifted out of the city, quickly becameone of the most circulated accounts on the internet. Below we arepublishing an excerpt from their piece titled “The Real Heroesand Sheroes of New Orleans,” for the full article visit:http://www.socialistworker.org/2005-2/556/556_04_RealHeroes.shtml

By day four, our hotels had run out of fuel and water.Sanitation was dangerously bad. As the desperation anddespair increased, street crime as well as water levels began

to rise. The hotels turned us out and locked their doors,telling us that “officials” had told us to report to the conven-tion center to wait for more buses. As we entered the cen-ter of the city, we finally encountered the National Guard.

The guard members told us we wouldn’t be allowed intothe Superdome, as the city’s primary shelter had descend-ed into a humanitarian and health hellhole. They furthertold us that the city’s only other shelter--the conventioncenter--was also descending into chaos and squalor, andthat the police weren’t allowing anyone else in.

Quite naturally, we asked, “If we can’t go to the only twoshelters in the city, what was our alternative?”The guards toldus that this was our problem--and no, they didn’t have extrawater to give to us. This would be the start of our numerousencounters with callous and hostile “law enforcement.”

WE WALKED to the police command center at Harrah’s onCanal Street and were told the same thing--that we wereon our own, and no, they didn’t have water to give us. Wenow numbered several hundred.

We held a mass meeting to decide a course of action.We agreed to camp outside the police command post. Wewould be plainly visible to the media and constitute a high-ly visible embarrassment to city officials. The police told usthat we couldn’t stay. Regardless, we began to settle in andset up camp.

In short order, the police commander came across thestreet to address our group. He told us he had a solution:we should walk to the Pontchartrain Expressway and crossthe greater New Orleans Bridge to the south side of theMississippi, where the police had buses lined up to take usout of the city.

The crowd cheered and began to move. We calledeveryone back and explained to the commander that therehad been lots of misinformation, so was he sure that therewere buses waiting for us. The commander turned to thecrowd and stated emphatically, “I swear to you that thebuses are there.”

The 200 of us set off for the bridge with great excite-ment and hope. As we marched past the convention center,many locals saw our determined and optimistic group, andasked where we were headed.

Families immediately grabbed their few belongings, andquickly our numbers doubled and then doubled again.Babies in strollers now joined us, as did people using

crutches, elderly clasping walkers and other people inwheelchairs. We marched the two to three miles to the free-way and up the steep incline to the bridge. It now began topour down rain, but it didn’t dampen our enthusiasm.

As we approached the bridge, armed sheriffs formed aline across the foot of the bridge. Before we were closeenough to speak, they began firing their weapons over ourheads. This sent the crowd fleeing in various directions.

As the crowd scattered and dissipated, a few of usinched forward and managed to engage some of the sher-iffs in conversation. We told them of our conversation withthe police commander and the commander’s assurances.The sheriffs informed us that there were no buses waiting.The commander had lied to us to get us to move.

We questioned why we couldn’t cross the bridge anyway,especially as there was little traffic on the six-lane highway.They responded that the West Bank was not going tobecome New Orleans, and there would be no Superdomesin their city.

ALL DAY LONG, we saw other families, individuals, andgroups make the same trip up the incline in an attempt tocross the bridge, only to be turned away. Thousands of NewOrleaners were prevented and prohibited from self-evacu-ating the city on foot.

Meanwhile, the only two city shelters sank further intosqualor and disrepair, but our little encampment began toblossom. Someone stole a water delivery truck and broughtit up to us. A mile or so down the freeway, an Army trucklost a couple of pallets of C-rations on a tight turn.

Now--secure with these two necessities, food andwater--cooperation, community, and creativity flowered.We organized a clean-up, made beds from wood palletsand cardboard, designated a storm drain as the bathroom,and the kids built an elaborate enclosure for privacy out ofplastic, broken umbrellas and other scraps.

JUST AS DUSK SET IN, a sheriff showed up, jumped out ofhis patrol vehicle, aimed his gun at our faces and screamed,“Get off the fucking freeway.” A helicopter arrived andused the wind from its blades to blow away our flimsystructures. As we retreated, the sheriff loaded up his truckwith our food and water.

IN THE PANDEMONIUM of having our camp raided anddestroyed, we scattered once again. Reduced to a smallgroup of eight people, in the dark, we sought refuge in anabandoned school bus, under the freeway on Cilo Street.We were hiding from possible criminal elements, but equal-ly and definitely, we were hiding from the police and sher-iffs with their martial law, curfew and shoot-to-kill policies.

F a u l t L i n e s | October 2005 | 7

ts Operation Blessing, which wasChristian televangelist Pat

as one of it’s top three charitiesf donations.

R 1, 2005- New Orelans Mayorssues a “Desperate SOS” fires break out, corpses lay out innd rescue helicopters and lawt officers were shot at as flood-w Orleans slipped toward chaos. brew" of heavy metals, chemi-e fuel and pesticides is swilling

w Orleans and the waterways ofnd other US coastal states.vy asks Halliburton to repair

ies destroyed by Hurricanee work is assigned to HalliburtonKBR, under a $500 million work

package signed in 2004. -Blackwater joins the relief effort, deployingarmed Mercenaries on the streets of NoLa.Hired by the Dept. Of Homeland Security,these professional killers are authorized touse lethal force.

SEPTEMBER 2, 2005- Bush tours the hurri-cane-battered Gulf Coast, saying that he isordering additional active duty forces to theregion. He also authorizes a drawdown of oilfrom the Strategic Petroleum Reserve.-Large-scale aid is at last beginning to arrivein the swamped and lawless city. -The U.S. launches the largest military offen-sive on an urban area since the attack onFallujah in the Ethnic Turkish city of Tal Afar inNorthern Iraq.

SEPTEMBER 4, 2005-Cuban President FidelCastro offers to send more than 1,500 doctorsto aid the relief effort and receives no response.

SEPTEMBER 5, 2005- President Bush admitsthat the rescue effort was "not acceptable." -Chicago Mayor Daley offers food and sup-plies as emergency aid, but only one tankertruck is accepted.

SEPTEMBER 7, 2005- Offers of aid fromabroad for Hurricane Katrina victims, from cel-lular telephone networks to water purificationsystem, have reportedly been delayed for dayswaiting for clearance from U.S. authorities.

SEPTEMBER 8, 2005- President Bush sus-pends application of the federal law govern-ing workers' pay on federal contracts in the

Hurricane Katrina, allowing contractors to payless than the prevailing wage for reconstruc-tion efforts.

SEPTEMBER 10, 2005- Bechtel asked by theFederal Emergency Management Agency toassess the need for, and then to provide, tem-porary 'trailer' housing in the hardest hitareas. In total, Bechtel wins $100 million forGulf reconstruction.

SEPTEMBER 11, 2005- Toxic chemicals inthe New Orleans flood waters will make thecity unsafe for full human habitation for adecade, a U.S. government official has toldThe Independent.

SEPTEMBER 12, 2005- FEMA directorMichael Brown resigns from the departmentfor "the best interest of the agency and thebest interest of the president."

SEPTEMBER 19, 2005- After starting to allowresidents back into the city, the Mayor of NewOrleans orders another evacuation for fear ofHurricane Rita

SEPTEMBER 23, 2005- Repaired leveesbreak as water levels raise from Rita re-flood-ing much of the city including the ninth ward

affected areas, mediareported that supplies were being divertedbecause helicopters couldn’t land due to hos-tile gunfire. If the U.S. is capable of sendingplanes that can withstand enemy fire to dropbombs in Iraq, certainly they are capable ofair dropping supplies into a US city.

On NPR's September 1 broadcast ofAll Things Considered, Homeland SecurityCzar Michael Chertoff dismissed an NPRfield reporter's claim that 2,000 or morewere at the convention center without foodor water and in unsanitary conditions.Subsequent reports verified that 15,000-20,000 were at the convention center.Deplorable conditions including dead bod-ies. The Convention Center was on dryground and could have been accessible bymilitary ground transport vehicles.

Mayor Ray Nagin blasted the slowresponse: "They're not here. It's too dog-gone late. Now get off your asses and dosomething, and let's fix the biggest god-

damn crisis in the history of this country.”

ENVIRONMENTAL TRIGGERThe ecological component of this disas-

ter is clear. New Orleans, like many majorcities, was built in a dangerous location, butenvironmental problems like global warm-ing and coastal erosion have exacerbatedthe precariousness of the City.

Marshes and wetlands help to slow ahurricane's effects as it approaches. Buterosion has diminished the size and abilityof coastal marshes and swamps to absorb ahurricane's force. Coastal erosion is due tothe redirection the river silt that built thedelta to the deep waters of the continentalshelf. It’s also attributable to salt-waterintrusion from canals built for oil and nat-ural gas drilling and pipeline needs.

Global warming also contributed to thedeadly hurricane. Ross Gelbspan, colum-nist for the Boston Globe, explains that glob-al warming "generates longer droughts,more intense downpours, more-frequent

heat waves, and more severe storms."While Katrina began as a relatively smallhurricane off south Florida, it was super-charged with extraordinary intensity byblistering sea surface temperatures in theGulf of Mexico.

THE UNHAPPY ENDINGThe Bush administration fiddled while

New Orleans flooded. The federal govern-ment failed to provide basic preventativeinfrastructure. It didn’t even have a rescueplan. Instead, tax cuts for the rich andspending for the war in Iraq were given pri-ority. Many perceive this as a "war at home"on poor and Black people. Many hurricanerefugees feel abandoned. But the rulingclass abandoned New Orleans long beforeKatrina hit. Racism, environmental disre-gard, and capitalist deference to social plan-ning set the stage for this catastrophe. Asmoney begins to trickle in, hotels, casinos,chain stores, and commercial developmentswill compete for money needed to reinforce

a system that was unable to respond to peo-ples' needs in the first place. But NewOrleans can be rebuilt with a differentethos: environmental sustainability, trans-portation infrastructure upgrades, publicevacuation plans, a bolstered public workssystem, stable union jobs, better publicschools, compassionate healthcare, and thecultivation of participatory neighborhoodcouncils that engage the working class,poor, and oppressed in governance. Thepeople of the U.S. can help with an alterna-tive vision too. First, we should demandthat troops deployed in Iraq return. Then,we should move to change national priori-ties to focus on the needs of the oppressedand working class. This should begin withrebuilding New Orleans and the U.S. GulfSouth.

Robert Caldwell Jr. is a resident of theNinth Ward in New Orleans and a member ofthe Green Party and Solidarity. He can bereached at jamais.vu@gmail.com.

LAW & ORDERin NoLa:

bay area residents witnesscommunity organizing in

the face of disaster

Flooding and debris on the deserted streets of NewOrleans, in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.PHOTO: ANDREWSTERN.NET

New Orleans continued...

BY SAKURA SAUNDERS

At 6:30 AM, the day after Christmas,Bodhi Garrett received a phone call. Atsunami had hit Thailand, and the islandeco-resort that employed him had beendestroyed. Almost immediately, Garrettwas put to task, contacting families of thedeceased, organizing search parties andpreparing for the relief effort from his par-ent’s home in Carmel Valley, CA. With noprior tsunami warning, it was pure luck thathe had left Thailand two days before thetsunami hit, visiting his family after a yearand a half absence.

Upon his return to Thailand, Garrettand a group of dedicated volunteers noticedthe deficiencies in the local relief efforts.

“The first thing that I saw that there wasmore instant noodles and rice than you

could swim in, and there were no fresh veg-etables and no cash to buy them. So wegave cash to the poor families and started todeliver fresh vegetables,” he recalled.

This was the first project of what grewinto North Andaman Tsunami Relief(NATR), an NGO with over 60 active orcompleted projects in 12 villages. Withtheir knowledge ofthe communitiesbefore the tsunamihit, NATR is able tosee what needs areand aren’t beingfilled and use smallamounts of resourcesto leverage change.

In managing thisnew organization,Garrett was struck by the misuse ofresources dedicated to tsunami relief.

“If you don’t understand the culture, youcan’t devise appropriate use,” he explainedas he pointed to the four offers, each total-ing over $100,000, which he had receivedfor building orphanages in Thailand.“Families in Thailand are extended andhave strong kinship networks, so people aretaken in by their larger families… there isno need for an orphanage in Thailand. But,so much money is locked up for uselessprojects , that there is no money for needyprojects, such as long-term scholarships.”

Garrett also pointed to more severe mis-management issues, such as a lack of coor-dination amongst reconstruction efforts.An example he used was the village of BakJok, one of the three well-established vil-

lages on his island, where the Lyons ClubInternational, French Popular Rescue, theFrench Red Cross, and the Swiss govern-ment are each rebuilding houses is separateareas. “It’s a tragedy - it is going to splitthese communities up and it is a waste ofresources, when you could just build be onesufficient village,” he explained.

The misuse ofresources is but oneof the criticismslevied against theflood of outsiderelief dollars. Garrettalso feels that theoutside managementaccompanying thisaid has its conse-quences. “There is

no devolution of authority to the commu-nity level, that’s why all hell breaks lose,because nobody feels responsible in thecommunity; the people that do are too busyprotecting themselves and those that feeldisenfranchised run rampant.”

There is also an inequity with which theresources are being distributed. Garrettwitnessed funds going to Buddhists muchfaster than the Muslim Thai. And the SeaGypsies, impoverished people regarded asthe indigenous guardians of the AndamanSea, received almost no aid and were forcedto beg for rice.

But as time rolled forward, the commu-nity came together.

“What I saw was initially there was somelooting, but then people came through foreach other because there was this feeling of

local identity,” Garrett recollected.On Koh Phratong Island, where

Garrett’s Eco-resort once stood, a nativeSea Gypsy, Arun Khlatalay, even ran forand got elected to the village council.Encouraged by the Buddhist monks whohad taken him in after the tsunami hit,Arun ran for office after he had learnedthat the village leaders were skimming gov-ernment funds intended to compensate theSea Gypsies for their damaged anddestroyed boats.

The Sea Gypsies had already sufferedyears of exploitation by the Naihua, orproperty lenders, who would pay the gyp-sies a pittance for their fish, while subject-ing them to exorbitant loans for their boats.

“It made me realize that we had tochange,” said Arun, in an interview withthe Washington Post. “We cannot beenslaved anymore.”

North Andaman Tsunami Relief pro-vides assistance to tsunami impactedcoastal communities on and near KohPhratong. NATR currently has 10 staff(primarily Thai), and is in the process oftransitioning to entirely local leadership.

Avoiding pregnancy, getting pregnant, PMS... theseare some of the most frequently discussed topics among myfemale friends, and I think among many women. Yet, therereally aren’t many commonly understood ways of managingeach of these issues withoutpharmaceutical inter-vention. I avoidedbirth control formany years because Iwas exclusively involvedwith women. When I gotinvolved with a man for the firsttime, I was suddenly interested in theworld of contraception, and sortedthrough a barrage of options beforesettling on condoms, basically out offear and ignorance of other methods.

That worked fine for years. Aftermeeting and falling in love with my future husband, the ideaof starting a family came into play. We tried just not usingany protection for a while, but no pregnancy ensued. Atsome point, a dear friend recommended I read TakingCharge of Your Own Fertility by Toni Weschler. This bookgot me hooked on the Fertility Awareness Method. I’ve usedthe method ever since, and as a result, our three year olddaughter was conceived. Many women use this method notjust to avoid pregnancy, but also to increase their chances ofgetting pregnant. It relies on learning and observing the stateof your body at different moments in your monthly cycle.

Cervical Mucus MonitoringCervical mucus changes consistency during the men-

strual cycles and plays a vital role in fertilization of the egg.Present in the days preceding ovulation, fertile cervicalmucus aids in drawing sperm up to the fallopian tubeswhere fertilization usually takes place. It also helps main-tain the survival of sperm inside the woman’s body.

In a “typical cycle”, after 5 days of menstruation thereare 3-4 “dry” days, and then wetness begins with sticky,cloudy, whitish, or yellowish secretions. The wetnessincreases to the wettest day when mucus is quite distinc-tive: abundant, slippery, clear and very stretchy (like egg

whites). Ovulation occurs sometime in the 2 days before orup to 2 days after the peak day of stretchy fertile mucus.

To chart you cervical mucus, observe and record your cer-vical secretions every day on a calendar or chart, with day 1 as

the first day of your menstrual period.Basal Body Temperature (BBT)When a woman monitors her

Basal Body Temperature (BBT), shecan see when ovulation occurred.

BBT helps identify post-ovulatoryinfertile days.

Using an easy-to-read thermometer, take your temper-ature every morning immediately upon waking and beforeany activity. If possible, use graph paper so you can see therise and fall of temperature.

Immediately before ovulation, the temperature dropsbriefly. Within 12 hours of ovulation, the BBT rises sever-

al tenths of a degree and remains up until the next menstru-al period. When your temperature stays high for 3 days ina row, the fertile period is over and the infertile time begins.

The main drawback of using the BBT method by itself isthat several factors can influence your BBT, including illness,lack of sleep, alcohol or drug use. You may choose to keep achart of your BBT over a period of 8-12 consecutive monthsto determine the time in your cycle when you usually ovulate.

One of the most valuable things I have ever done is toget more in touch with my own body by charting mycycles. Not only did it help manage my fertility, PMS, andother related issues, but it brought me closer to my cycles,moods, and really, my own essential femininity.

8 | October 2005 | F a u l t L i n e s

The Blind Leading the Relief Efforts:Thai communities come together despite well-meaning foreign aid

This article is excerpted from Down There Magazine, awoman-run and operated resource for feminist and alternativewomen’s health issues. View the entire articlce at down-theremagazine.com

Learning Your Cycle BY LARISSA SHAPIRO

Root Tea for PMS1 part sarsaparilla

1/2 part burdock1 part dandelion root

1/4 part yellow dock root1/2 part ginger root

1/2 part cinnamon twigscook for 15 minutes over heat with the

lid ondrink 1-2 chip a day

Bloat tea1 part nettles

1 part dandelion root1 part chickweed (2 parts if fresh, which

is preferable)1/2 part peppermint (1 part if fresh)

Cramp Tea1 part cramp bark or motherwort

1/2 part black haw1/2 part valerian

1 part ginger1/2 part kava

Cramp bark can also be chewed for painrelief.

Additional recommendations forcramping

Don’t eat or drink any cold foodsPlace a heating pad or warm ginger poul-tice over the pelvic area. To make a gin-

ger compress, grate 1/4 cup ginger andboil in 1 cup water for 20 minutes, dip

washcloth in tea and place over pelvicarea.

Avoid coffee, and other pro-inflammato-ry foods and drinks.

Recipes for Comfort

Sam

anth

aSa

ge

“There is no devolution ofauthority to the community

level, that’s whyall hell breaks lose, becausenobody feels responsible in

the community”

ShannonBinns

Lucy Dixon-Clarke

F a u l t L i n e s | October 2005 | 9

BY NATALIE CADRANEL

The shoe-in for the next Chief Justice ofthe Supreme Court may have evaded thetough questions posed by the SenateJudiciary Committee, but based on the fewdocuments the White House agreed tomake public, it is clear that John Roberts isindeed the “ideologue” he explicitly claimsnot to be. Having publicly stated his posi-tion on civil and constitutional rights issuessuch as abortion, domestic violence, votingrights, desegregation, low-income housing,gender discrimination, affirmative action,sexual harassment, and school prayer,Robert’s views have sent up red flags forthose who believe in the constitutional pro-tection of women’s and minority’s rightsand economic justice.

Roberts’ appointment will pose chal-lenges to more than just individual and civilliberties; it will also directly impact key fed-eral issues that eked by on 5-4 rulings,where O’Connor’s vote determined theoutcome. The results of some of these keycases are outlined below:

Reproductive Rights andPrivacy

Stenberg v. Carhart (2000) overturned astate law that would have had the effect ofbanning abortion as early as the 12th weekof pregnancy and that lacked any exceptionto protect a woman’s health.

Environmental Protections:In the Alaska Department of

Environmental Conservation v. EPA (2004)decision, O’Connor’s vote determined that

when a state conservation agency fails toact, the EPA could intervene to reduce airpollution under the Clean Air Act.

Consumer ProtectionsIn the Rush Prudential HMO, Inc. v.

Moran (2002) decision, the Supreme Courtruling upheld state laws giving people theright to a second doctor’s opinion if theirHMO’s tried to deny them treatment.

Sex DiscriminationJackson v. Birmingham Board. Of

Education (2005) ruled that federal law pro-tects against retaliation against someone forcomplaining about illegal sex discriminationin federally assisted education programs.

Disability RightsTennessee v. Lane (2004) upheld the con-

stitutionality of Title II of the Americanswith Disabilities Act and required that court-rooms be physically accessible to the disabled.

Affirmative ActionGrutter v. Bollinger (2003) affirmed the

right of state colleges and universities to useaffirmative action in their admissions poli-cies to increase educational opportunitiesfor minorities and promote racial diversityon campus.

DiscriminationMorse v. Republican Party of Virginia

(1996) said key anti-discrimination provi-sions of the Voting Rights Act apply to polit-ical conventions that choose party candidates.

Hunt v. Cromartie (2001) affirmed theright of state legislators to take race intoaccount to secure minority-voting rights

in redistricting.Brown v. Legal Foundation of Washington

(2003) maintained a key source of fundingfor legal assistance for the poor.

Separation of Church andState

McCreary County v. ACLU of Kentucky(2005) upheld the principle of governmentneutrality towards religion and ruledunconstitutional Ten Commandments dis-plays in several courthouses.

Lee v. Weisman (1992) continued the tra-dition of government neutrality towardreligion, finding that government-spon-sored prayer is unacceptable at graduationsand other public school events.

Government AccountabilityMcConnell v. Federal Election Commission

(2003) upheld most of the landmarkMcCain-Feingold campaign finance law,including its ban on political parties’ use ofunlimited soft money contributions.

Federal Election Commission v. ColoradoRepublican Federal Campaign Committee(2001) upheld laws that limit political partyexpenditures that are coordinated with acandidate and seek to evade campaign con-tribution limits.

Many of Roberts’ previous rulings andstatements support his opposition to theoutcomes of the above cases. In a brief forGeorge H.W. Bush’s administration thatRoberts co-authored for the respondentRust in Rust v. Sullivan, he states that, “Wecontinue to believe that Roe was wronglydecided and should be overruled.”

In public statements on “Talk of theNation”, 6/24/99 and on “News Hour” withJim Lehrer, 7/2/97, Roberts deniesCongress’ authority to support state employ-ees’ rights to sue their employers for refusingto pay overtime, to endorse the protection ofthe victims of gender-motivated violence, torequire background checks of gun buyers bylocal police, and to further defend the rightto religious expression.

Robert’s lack of support for women whoseek sexual harassment suits is exampled in afriend-of-the-court brief, which stated that a1972 law that banned sex discrimination inschools could not be used to allow a girl tosue a teacher who had repeatedly sexuallyharassed her for compensatory damages.

He also argued in favor of the expansionof the role of religion in public schools. Inhis friend-of-the-court for Lee v. Weisman(1992) he affirmed that religious prayers ingraduation ceremonies at public highschools should be allowed.

While Roberts clearly would like tolimit protecting Federal controls over thepreviously mentioned issues, he has putforth rulings and opinions that indicate hisstrong support for expanding the powers ofthe executive branch. In a recent D.C.court decision, Hamdan v. Rumsfeld (2005)Roberts ruled that the Geneva Conventionis unenforceable in U.S. courts and adoptedthe Bush administration’s position thatonce accused, enemy combatants can betried before military courts without funda-mental routine protections that are afford-ed to U.S. citizens.

Whether it is limiting civil liberties orfederal jurisdiction, Roberts’ future, andpivotal votes, will surely be in opposition toO’Connor’s record, and thus may put intoquestion the very cornerstones of modernAmerican justice.

Conservative Appointments threaten Supreme Court’s balance

Tipping the Scales:

10 | October 2005 | F a u l t L i n e s

Civil libertarians and anyone concernedabout basic rights to assemble, protest, cel-ebrate, and speak have flocked to defendthe New York Critical Mass. Several law-suits and criminal casesare still pending, as thelocal authorities havesuspended normallegalities to carry out awitchhunt againstCritical Mass in NewYork. At times this haseven meant the blatanttheft of dozens ofbicycles by noneother than the policedepartment itself!

When confrontedby the curiously vitri-olic anger and belliger-ence of the police (notjust in New York,either, but in SF, LA,Portland, Minneapolis,Austin, and more), alot of cyclists are puz-zled. Why do the police react so strongly toCM? Why does a simple crowd of bicy-clists seem to inspire such fear and loathingon the part of the authorities? We have totake a deeper look to understand it.

There are two basic factors that explainwhat's going on: “Culture War” and a con-flict between old-style hierarchy andthe emergence of flexible network-based social movements.

Individual police are usually people whomore or less blindly believe in the“American Way” of life. That means they'veliterally “bought in” to the automobile/oildebt cycle for themselves and think thatembracing the bicycle as alternative trans-portation is childish and immature. Theybelieve that the way things are in the US is

truly the “best of all possible worlds.” Theyfind it deeply disturbing (as do somemotorized citizens) to encounter an amor-phous crowd of people on bicycles rolling

through town (andstoplights), talkingand laughing, tin-kling bells and gen-erally having funwhile suspendingthe “normal” (anti-)life that predomi-nates on the streets.

Police officers,who are notinstructed other-wise, feel it's theirduty to punish thesescofflaw cyclists andto make them pay aprice for theirostensible pleasure.When the basicallyinnocent cyclistsprotest being ticket-ed, manhandled,

and otherwise abused by the police, it onlyfuels the rage simmering inside the locked-down, uninspired, uncreative brains of theboys and girls in blue. In other words, thesemoments become a front-line confronta-tion in a vast, confusing and inchoateCulture War that is in some ways reproduc-ing historic cleavages that dividedAmericans during the Vietnam era, andeven longer ago during the Civil War era.Vicious racism and manifest destiny (whiteman's burden) imperialism mirror theunderlying forces driving the conflictbetween those who would “progress” to anera of cooperation, mutual aid, peace, andtolerance and those who fear change andcling with violent intensity to a world pal-pably collapsing around them.

People who embrace cycling and comeout to ride in Critical Mass come from allwalks of life, have widely varying incomesand housing situations, and cannot be char-acterized accurately as part of a “class” as itis commonly understood. Also, the folksstuck in traffic in cars or on busses areclearly more like than unlike the riders whoare temporarily altering the rhythm ofurban life by seizing the streets on bicycles.Nevertheless, Critical Mass cyclists are themost visible practitioners of a new kind ofsocial conflict. The “assertive desertion”embodied in bicycling erodes the system ofsocial exploitation organized through pri-vate car ownership and the oil industry.And by cycling inurban centers in theheart of the Empire,we join a growingmovement aroundthe world that isrepudiating thesocial and economicmodels controlled bymultinational capitaland imposed on uswithout any form ofdemocratic consent.

This mass seizureof the streets by aswarming mob ofbicyclists withoutleaders is preciselythe kind of self-directing, network-ing logic that is transforming our econom-ic lives and threatening the structure ofgovernment, business, and (as more imagi-native military strategists are coming tounderstand) policing and war-making too.So the local police and authorities oftenrespond with great frustration and confu-sion to the eruption of a tactical flexibilityfor which they're simply unprepared. And

in classic patriarchal fashion, they lash outwith physical punishment as best they can,trying to repress what they cannot under-stand or control. But like the insurgency inIraq, or any guerrilla war, when a blunder-ing monster attacks in classic old-styleways, the new, mobile, decentralized net-works just vanish, leaving the attackersswinging at air. Perhaps they “catch” a fewindividuals now and then, but the struc-ture that is threatening them remainsintact and often grows stronger—justlike Critical Mass has in most places ithas been attacked.

So on our bucolic 13th birthday ride inSan Francisco we should take some time to

reflect on the largernational and interna-tional dynamics ofwhich we are a smallpart. We can bethankful that ourlocal police have beentaught to tolerate us,but that gift to uscomes with an inter-esting obligation: toextend the logic ofour resistance andinnovation into newareas of contestation,to link up with peo-ple elsewhere whoare not so lucky andprovide material aidand strategic supportwhenever we can.

Chris Carlsson edited "Critical Mass:Bicycling's Defiant Celebration" (AKPress) and has written extensively onCritical Mass and San Francisco history.His bicycling utopia "After The Deluge"was published in 2004. Check his websitewww.chriscarlsson.com.

BY DAVID OCHS KEENAN

Imagine for a moment the followingscenario: You’re watching some friendsplaying a game of touch football at a localball field like you’ve done for years.Suddenly, out of nowhere, police paddywagons pull up to the curb, officers streamout, block the exits, and line everyone upagainst a fence. Overnight, not wearinghelmets or shin guards is a serious crime.You watch incredulously as everyone getsyelled at, ID’d, then finally, ticketed. Butthese aren’t parking tickets. They’re fullfledged misdemeanor offenses and they’rethe beginning of a criminal record. Andthey start at $100. You realize that some ofthose kids will not be able to pay, and thesetickets will go to warrants before many ofthem can even drive. Imagine this happen-ing several times a week, and worse, imag-ine that there’s absolutely no compelling

legal reason for it to happen in the firstplace. and now understand that this is

h a p -pening notto footballers, butskateboarders, fornot wearing a full suit of elbow, knee, and helmetprotection at the skatepark immediately adjacentto the ball fields off Harrison Street in Berkeley.Though a seemingly progressive city, Berkeley

has chosen

to pointlessly socialize their youth popula-tion to resent authority figures.

At the Berkeley skatepark policehave been handing out criminal records likecandy to Berkeley’s youth since last April.After four years of tolerance, the BerkeleyCity Attorney’s office inexplicably pan-icked at a new and mysterious fear of‘increased liability,’ even though none of the

state or local laws have changed and noknown skate park-injury

lawsuit has ever beenfiled by a skate-boarder in the stateof California.Statutes have beenin effect since thelate 90’s with thespecific purposeof indemnifyingl o c a l - c i t i e sagainst skateparkinjuries. Butunfortunately,about half ofCalifornia citieswith skateparks

- including Berkeley - interpret the samestatute laws as an excuse to harass skaters

for ticket money.Meanwhile, regu-

lar park skaters arepushed back out tothe pedestrian-and car-cloggedstreets the parkwas supposed to

lure them from inthe first place. The

same streets, where infact, almost all skate-

boarding injuries anddeaths actually occur, according

to recent studies by the ConsumerProduct Safety Commission (CPSC).

The study also shows that skateboarding isa radically less injurious an activity thanmany organized sports where players aretypically penalized by referees, not police –for example football and basketball, whichhave an injury rate over twice that of skate-boarding.

The relentless harassment provided rea-son enough for local skaters to spendmonths secretly pouring their own concreteto build a park less than five miles down theroad, nestled under a freeway overpass.West Oakland’s own ‘Bordertown’ is a DIYpark whose unlikely survival made localheadlines in early August, when the alreadybuilt, established, and skateable park wasfinally ‘discovered’ by CalTrans as they wereserving eviction notices to homelessencampments under the same freeway.

Almost overnight, Bordertown wasspared CalTrans’ threatened demolitionand sanctioned with the help of an ad-hoccoalition that included Oakland MayorJerry Brown and Senator Barbara Boxer. As

BERKELEY SKATERS FIND REFUGE

Rejecting the traditional formula ofagonizingly slow park-building

through ‘official’ channels, theseskaters and community activists moved

first to independently reclaim, andquietly rebuild - with donated labor

and materials - a trash-strewn, drug-gie-infested urban Waste land.

Oaklander 'Major' (14) drops in

CRITICAL MASS continued from front pageP

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AN

the East Bay Express detailed on August10th, the once-illegal parks’ victory was theresult of swiftly executed behind-the-scenes preparation and savvy media man-agement. The coverage powerfullyreframed the image of skaters from the‘default’ negative stereotype of recklessdeviants who go out of their way to maketrouble for cops, to that of initiative-taking,urban-blight-removing, can-do commu-nity-builders. As the community-posi-tive story spread quickly through main-stream news, the skate park’s status mor-phed from illicit to legitimate in meredays, and marked the latest victory in astring of unlikely successes for a smallnumber of similar DIY skateparks fromSan Diego to Portland:

Rejecting the traditional formula of ago-nizingly slow park-building through ‘offi-cial’ channels, these skaters and communityactivists moved first to independentlyreclaim, and quietly rebuild - with donatedlabor and materials - a trash-strewn, drug-gie-infested urban wasteland. When parkslike these are ‘discovered’, skaters then agi-tate for political approval at the highest lev-els by courting public opinion in the main-stream press. Since its merit as a valuablecommunity project of urban renewal isalready established, the park becomes apolitically powerful reality.

The Bordertown project helped peopleto appreciate what Berkeley seems to haveforgotten – that skateparks offer a uniquelycollaborative and creative nexus of positivesocial space. It leaves traditional ethnora-cial, generational, and class divisions in thedust, a phenomenon all too rare in today’surban centers, and one that quite rightfullyneeds to be built up and nurtured, not torn

down or criminalized.

F a u l t L i n e s | October 2005 | 11

BY TED E. RUXPIN

That blunt statement basically sums upthis recently released zine by political pris-oners Jeffrey ‘Free’ Leurs and Rob ‘LosRicos’ Thaxton.

The core concept that unites the 11essays that make up the zine also happensto be the publication’s name; Heartcheck. Asthe authors explain in the opening remarks,the slang term“heartcheck”was developedin prison and itmeans “to callsomeone outwhen you growweary of lis-tening to himrun his neck ortalk out of hisass.” Jeff andRob chooseto use thisterm to call out what they identify as awidespread problem plaguing resistancemovements operating within Empire’score; all talk and no action.

It’s not a new statement by any means,but within these essays, one can find aninsightful articulation of these frustrationsthat many radicals and anarchists in thiscountry share. Throughout the zine, thereare continual references to 1999 and thehope that filled radical communities fol-lowing the unprecedented disruption of theWTO summit in Seattle. It is clear thatmuch of Heartcheck’s writing comes out ofthe frustration and disappointment that hasaccompanied the “movement of move-ments”’ stagnation in the past six years afterthe brilliance of November 30th, 1999.

The authors attempt to provide someexamples of positive developments thatshould be replicated and built upon, such asthe autonomous community uprisings inthe Kabilya region of Algeria or the target-ed organizing against specific corporateexecutives that formed the backbone of theStop Huntingdon Animal Cruelty cam-paign. However, other than discussing theneed for action in a somewhat removed and

a b s t r a c t e dsense, the zinealso fails topaint a coherentpicture of con-crete steps ourdiverse move-ments can taketo truly pose aserious threat topower. This

ends up mak-ing the entirecollection of

essays on the frustrations with the failuresof U.S. radicals a somewhat frustrating readin itself.

The one essay that clearly stands out inHeartcheck as a truly visionary and inspiringpiece of writing is Jeff ’s ‘Building aFoundation for Change’ in which he dis-cusses the complex support structures andcommunity networks that must be nurturedin order for an armed revolt to truly be suc-cessful. Within this piece, Jeff displays animpressive level of depth and maturitylacking in much of the rest of the zine.While there are definitely gems scatteredthroughout all the essays, this piece alonemakes the publication a worthwhile read.

“Do It or Shut the Fuck Up”Review of Heartcheck

jeffrey ‘Free’ Leurs and Rob ‘Los Ricos’ Thaxton

IN DIY PARK

-Right now, it is not possible to skateor volunteer at Bordertown, as it is cur-rently unskateably closed pending itsrebirth as an official, nonprofit entity.Rather, donations of money and materialsare most needed, and can be made direct-ly through:http://bordertownskatepark.org.

-Want to do something about policeharassment at the Berkeley skatepark?Check out the forums on http://skaters-forpublicskateparks.org; Berkeleyans canwrite their local city councilperson (seehttp://www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/Elected/default.htm), otherwise, write to MayorBradley (mayor@ci.berkeley.ca.us) andcopy the City Attorney(attorney@ci.berkeley.ca.us).

SKATE OR DIE

Evan (14) of Oakland rocks a fakieback into the bowl

CRYPTO compiled by Iain Boal #121

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Across2. miscellaneous(abbrev) (4)6. unsuited (6)11. police department(2)13. movement for cleanenergy? (5,5)14. hollow cylinder (4)15. French friend (3)16. Indian water (4)17. not out (2)18. nickel (2)20, apothecaries'(abbrev) (2)21. thulium (2)22. awkward soundingbike (7)23. and the rest (3)24. day before (3)26. account of (abbrev)(2)27. thou plural (2)28. HurricaneHayworth? (4) 30. long player (2)31. bicycle bread bas-

ket? (7,3)34. prayer beads (4)36. direct action network(3)37. pertaining to (2)39. outer ring, edge (3)40. Iraq's main port (5)44. infernal epic writer(5)45. inflater (3,4)47. Old Testament (2)48. busy center (3)50. SF TV channel (4)51. radio telephony (2)52. wheel spindle (4)53. kilodalton (abbrev)(2)54. charged atom (3)56. father of (Arabic) (3)57. natural religion (5)59. Ohio cycling fraterni-ty (6,4)62. Old English (2)63. rubbery solution (3)64. forbidden behavior(5)65. dread (4)

Down1. kind of illusion (7)2. I, myself (2)3. InternationalDevelopment Agency(3)4. 9thC. Muslim capital(7)5. trouser-leg confiner(4)6. high wheeler? (8,4)7. unworldly wob-blies? (2)8. seventh Irish clan?(4)9. set up? (5)10. three-wheeler (5)12. inventor of pneu-matic tire (6)13. cheap bike foracrobats? (5,8)19. Cold War president(3)23. Sicilian volcano (4)25. Voice of America(3)29. independent, alter-natively (4)

31. little Pamela (3)32. Rwanda's neighbor(7)33. grunt (2)35. instead of a Frenchplace? (4) 37. smell (4)38. not your skinnywheel! (3,4)41. briefly arranged (3)42. said to be radialconnector? (5)43. exist before noon?(2)46. introductory text(6)49. edge city (5)52. Swedish kitschsupergroup (4)55. black gold (3)56. old telephonemonopolist (3)58. School of theAmericas (3)59. Doctor cricket (2)60. licensed to kill (2)61. south, as such (2)

Answers to this and last months crypto can be found on indybay.org/faultliness