from: William Hughes

On Thursday morning, March 4, 2010, a spirited protest action was held in front of the “Baltimore City Juvenile Justice Center,” on north Gay Street, not far from the City Hall, in Baltimore. The demonstrators demanded “$100 million [in Maryland’s state budget] be converted from youth jails to youth jobs and education,” according to their press release. Students, teachers and community activists joined in the social justice action. About 13 of the activists made their way into the lobby of the building, where they engaged in a civil disobedience-like protest. As I left the event to cover another assignment, the students in front of the building were continuing to chant: “Arrest O’Malley!” They even printed out a flyer, with O’Malley’s mug on it, which stated: “Wanted for Incarcerating Youth!” It appeared the police were prepared to simply “wait out” the protesters inside the building. For any updates, go to this web site: http://bailoutpeople.org/

from: William Hughes

On Thursday morning, Feb. 25, 2010, a sidewalk summit advocating “Medicare for All,” was staged in Washington, D.C., at Lafayette Park, North, not far from the White House. To close the rally, Dr. Margaret Flowers sang her rendition of “It Isn’t Nice,” a ballad authored by the late, great songwriter and activist, Malvina Reynolds. See: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malvina_Reynolds Dr. Flower was introduced by activist Katie Robbins. For background on the Sidewalk Summit, go to: http://www.healthcare-now.org/

from: William Hughes

Ed Norris is the former Police Commissioner of Baltimore City. Currently, he is a popular radio talk show host, on 105.7 WHFS (FM), in town. On Feb. 24, 2010, he appeared on a panel to discuss the crime situation in Baltimore. The event, held at a local bistro/pub, was sponsored by “Investigative Voice,” See: investigativevoice.com To learn more about Mr. Norris, check out: wikipedia.org and ednorris.com Mr. Norris said that the HBO’s “The Wire” program gave an “accurate portrayal” of crime conditions in the city during his tenure in office.

from: William Hughes

On Thursday morning, Feb. 25, 2010, a sidewalk summit advocating “Medicare for All,” was staged in Washington, D.C., at Lafayette Park, North, not far from the White House. Here are some sights and scenes from that spirited event. For background, see: http://www.healthcare-now.org/

from: William Hughes

Ed Norris is the former Police Commissioner for Baltimore City. He said our drug policy doesn’t work. Norris urged ‘legalizing” all drugs. He said prohibition doesn’t work. Norris said: “As long as it is illegal, they’re [the drugs], going to be in demand...They’re not killing each other for the drugs. They’re killing each other for the money. And, that’s the problem... You can’t legislate morality.” The ex-Mayor of Baltimore, Sheila Dixon also participated in the exchange of views. REGRETFULLY, AS A RESULT OF VIDEO DIFFICULTIES, ONLY THE AUDIO PORTION OF THIS PROGRAM IS AVAILABLE. The event was held on Feb. 24, 2010, in Baltimore, MD. It was sponsored by “Investigative Voice,” See:
http://investigativevoice.com/ To learn more about Mr. Norris, check out: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ed_Norris

from: William Hughes

On Monday, Feb. 22, 2010, the Pulizter Prize winning author Taylor Branch, spoke in Baltimore, MD. He talked about the necessity of Healthcare Reform in the U.S. Mr. Taylor drew some parallels with this current struggle for social justice and with the heroic battle for Civil Rights in America, under the leadership of the legendary Martin Luther King, Jr. Mr. Taylor is a noted biographer of MLK. See: http://taylorbranch.com/ The event was held at the Church of the Redeemer in Baltimore. It was sponsored by Health Care for All at: http://healthcareforall.com/HTML1.phtml and http://healthcareforamericanow.org/ and the March to the Finish Line at: http://melaniesmarch.com and Progressive Maryland, at: http://www.progressivemaryland.org/page.php?id=268
Matthew Weinstein, MD Coordinator, Health Care for America Now, served as the moderator.

From: sc

FORBIDDEN DREAMS is a documentary about some martyred Palestinian children: Mohammed, Safaa, Ahmed, Omar-- those children who lost their lives in the death chambers of the IOF in Gaza; their stories told by their friends and families. It consists of testimonies of bereaved families from Northern Gaza; a story of children whose dreams had been cut short. The documentary is produced by the One Democratic State Group in Gaza. odsg.org/co Forbidden Dreams

from: William Hughes

On Feb. 18, 2010, Jonathan Tasini presented a “Petition to End the Filibuster,” to aides of U.S. Senate Majority Leader, Sen. Harry Reid (D-NV), in the Hart Office Building, in Washington, D.C. Mr. Tasini is a union leader, organizer and a progressive, who is running as a Democrat for the U.S. Senate in New York state. He has been a champion of free lance writers. Mr. Tasini also maintains a blog called, “Working Life.” He is antiwar and has endorsed the “Medicare for All” position. For background on Mr. Tasini’s “Petition to End the Filibuster,” go to: http://www.jonathantasini.com/

from: William Hughes

On Wed. evening, Feb. 17, 2010, John Yoo gave a talk on the campus of the Johns Hopkins U., in Baltimore, Md. Before the controversial law professor could get into his talk, however, it was interrupted by two activists. They stood to his right in front of the auditorium and held a banner, which read: “Try Yoo for Torture!” The protesters refused to sit down, but they were not arrested and remained in the same position during Yoo’s entire speech. Yoo had served in the administration of the Bush-Cheney Gang in the Justice Department. He authored two dubious legal memos which claimed sweeping presidential power to commit torture. The two memos are referred to by his critics--and there are many--as the “torture memos.” For background on Yoo, see: http://www.afterdowningstreet.org/ and
http://www.velvetrevolution.us/ and http://www.codepinkalert.org/ and http://www.firejohnyoo.org/

From Pablo Ouziel

In this video, we distill out the findings of the Chapter 11 ("Deliberate Attacks against the Civilian Population") of the Goldstone Report to make it accessible to the lay public. The factual and legal findings are narrated by Noam Chomsky. The video also contains live testimonies of Khalid, Kawthar and Samar Abd Rabbo before the UN Fact Finding Mission headed by Justice Richard Goldstone. www.goldstonefacts.org

The real story behind Israel's invasion of Gaza.