AFDI v. MTA - interesting First Amendment decision - jihadists as savages

An interesting First Amendment ruling has been issued in American Freedom Defense Initiative v. Metropolitan Transit Authority:

July 20, 2012, Decision of District Judge Paul A. Engelmayer (pdf)

Naral: House votes to repeal Affordable Care Act

BREAKING NEWS: U.S. House votes to repeal the Affordable Care Act Dear Ray, Here's the clearest example I can give you of what's at stake for women in this November's election: the U.S. House of Representatives just voted to repeal the Affordable Care Act. Better access to maternity and prenatal care for women. Insurance coverage of contraception without a copay. An end to allowing insurance companies to charge women more than men. These politicians don't care about any of that. Anti-choice extremists have proven that they will fight tooth and nail to make sure that women can not get the health care that they need. If these extremists win the Senate or the White House in November, we could lose the greatest advancement for women's health in a generation. We cannot let that happen. I know we ask a lot of our members and activists. But we truly can't win this fight without each and every one of you standing up for women's health and reproductive freedom. Please give what you can today to help NARAL Pro-Choice America fight for pro-choice victories in November and support our lobbying and grassroots efforts to protect choice at all levels of government. I'm so grateful for your support. Thanks for all you do to stand up for women. Sincerely, Nancy Keenan President, NARAL Pro-Choice America DONATE NOW

A political organization, NARAL Pro-Choice America is the nation's leading advocate for privacy and a woman's right to choose.

Big Apple celebrates Woody Guthrie centennial

THE BIG APPLE CELEBRATES WOODY'S 100TH BIRTHDAY! 5 DAYS OF EVENTS - July 11 - 15, 2012
	Just Released! MY NAME IS NEW YORK: Ramblin' Around Woody Guthrie's Town by Nora Guthrie & The Woody Guthrie Archives Woody Guthrie lived in New York City from 1940-1967, a total of 27 years. This Land Is Your Land was written at a small boarding house on 43rd Street, Bound For Glory and many of his most well known songs were written around town: Jesus Christ, Tom Joad, Vigilante Man, and Riding In My Car are among the 600 songs Woody composed here. Although he continued to ramble, NYC was the city he called home and always returned to. Highlighting 19 locations with historic photos, lyrics, artwork, and diaries, this little pocket guide provides an intimate portrait of his life in New York City Buy Book | powerHouse Books. 5" x 8" Paperback. 96 pgs.
STEVE EARLE'S WOODYFEST WITH SPECIAL GUESTS July 11 - 13 | City Winery | NYC
Wednesday, July 11 - 8:00p Steve Earle's WoodyFest with special guests John Hammond and Tim Robbins City Winery 155 Varick Street New York, NY 10013 T: (212) 608-0555 Buy Tickets Thursday, July 12 - 8:00p Steve Earle's WoodyFest with special guests Rachael Yamagata, The Wood Brothers & Allen Toussaint City Winery 155 Varick Street New York, NY 10013 T: (212) 608-0555 Buy Tickets Friday, July 13 - 8:00p Steve Earle's WoodyFest with special guests Billy Bragg, Amy Helm & Joe Purdy City Winery 155 Varick Street New York, NY 10013 T: (212) 608-0555 Buy Tickets Saturday, July 14 - 4:00p WOODY GUTHRIE'S 100th BIRTHDAY IN CONEY ISLAND - A FREE EVENT! Celebrate Woody's 100th Birthday! 4:00p - MAN IN THE SAND film at Coney Island Museum (3:30pm - Doors Open - only 100 seats - First come first serve) * Following the film, Billy Bragg and Nora Guthrie will be signing Mermaid Avenue CD's & My Name Is New York books, for sale that day. Coney Island Museum 1208 Surf Avenue Coney Island, Brooklyn, NY Coney Island Museum Website Saturday, July 14 - 8:00p WOODY GUTHRIE'S 100th BIRTHDAY IN CONEY ISLAND - A FREE EVENT! Celebrate Woody's 100th Birthday! 8:00p - Woody Guthrie Birthday Proclamation Ceremony with NORA GUTHRIE, BILLY BRAGG & STEVE EARLE 8:40p - BOUND FOR GLORY film showing on Coney Island's Beach Coney Island Flicks on the Beach 3059 West 12th Street Coney Island, Brooklyn, NY Bound For Glory film details Sunday, July 15 - 7:00p GUTHRIE FAMILY REUNION CELEBRATING WOODY’S 100TH - A FREE EVENT! Central Park SummerStage Event Webpage | SummerStage Website | Arlo.net | Woody100.com | Woody Guthrie Online Store Stay connected with the Centennial Celebrations! Centennial Website & Woody Guthrie Song of the Day | Friend us on Facebook | Follow us on Twitter | WoodyGuthrie.org

Honduras: The Struggle for Democracy, Independence and Self-Determination Continues

Honduras: The Struggle for Democracy, Independence and Self-Determination Continues The coup organized by SOA graduates that toppled President Manuel Zelaya in 2009 not only brought an end to a democratic government, but it has also turned Honduras into a nightmare, with the highest homicide rate in the world. Political repression is among the worst in the hemisphere: journalists, opposition activists, and LGBT activists have been murdered with impunity. Graduates of the SOA, who head state security forces under the illegitimate post-coup regime of Porfirio Lobo, work in complicity with private security forces to repress small farmers and cooperatives from defending the lands that provide their sustenance. Click here to ask your Members of Congress to urge US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to suspend US assistance to the Honduran military and police, given the widespread, serious human rights violations by the U.S.-trained Honduran security forces. Solidarity in Action: Mary Anne Perrone is currently on the ground in Honduras as an SOA Watch observer, on the invitation of the Committee of Relatives of the Detained and Disappeared (COFADEH). Starting on July 14, SOA Watch will have another full time human rights accompanier on the ground. Brigitte just completed her accompaniment training in Canada and is currently en route to Honduras, where she will join the Honduras Accompaniment Project in providing international human rights accompaniment for individuals and communities at risk because of their efforts to defend human rights, land and the environment. This was made possible because of your donations to SOA Watch. Thank you! Stay tuned for updates from Brigitte and Mary Anne! June 28, 2012 marked the three-year anniversary of the military coup in Honduras; it also marked the birth of the Honduran Resistance, one of the most important social and political movements of contemporary history of Honduras and Latin America. Watch the video essay Honduran Resistance Lives On by Jihan Hafiz (music by Simon Rios). The US has lost a lot of its influence in the Americas over the past decade. Last week, Ecuador joined Argentina, Bolivia, Uruguay and Venezuela in pulling its troops out of the School of the Americas (SOA/ WHINSEC).Just as it is only a matter of time before the SOA/ WHINSEC is being forced to close its doors for good; countries like Honduras will free themselves and gain their rights to democracy and self-determination. Stand in solidarity with our compañerxs in the South and mobilize your community for the November Vigil at the gates of Fort Benning, Georgia (November 16-18, 2012) to speak out for justice and against oppressive U.S. foreign policy. Join your voice with thousands of human rights activists, torture survivors, anti-war veterans, students, families, union workers, and artists from across the Americas, at the largest grassroots anti-militarization mobilization in North America. Click here for more information. Like the work SOA Watch is doing? Please support us today. WHINSEC Board of Visitors Meeting On June 27 and 28, 2012, the news that Ecuador had pulled out of the SOA made shock waves in Columbus, Georgia. During those two days, SOA Watch activists – including Fellowship of Reconciliation’s John Lindsay-Poland, former SOA Watch Prisoner of Conscience Luis Wolf and members of SOA Watch-Columbus – spoke out at the SOA/WHINSEC Board of Visitors’ meeting. The activists inquired about the transparency of the school that neither releases the names of the graduates and instructors, nor knows how to track them after they leave. Ecuador’s decision to leave the school left a cloud of doubt over the meeting. Click here to read a report back. The Board of Visitors meets annually, supposedly to “oversee” what happens at the SOA/WHINSEC. However, it appears to be more of a rubber stamp board for PR purposes. Send letters to the Ecuadoran embassy – as well as to those of Argentina, Uruguay, Bolivia and Venezuela – supporting them for their just and courageous actions. The Americas are rising up! SOA Watch on Facebook SOA Watch on Twitter See us on YouTube Contact us. Our mailing address is: SOA Watch, PO Box 4566, Washington, D.C. 20017, USA Our telephone: (202) 234 3440 Click here to fund the campaign to close the SOA.