Police Raid Homes of Activists Nationwide

The FBI raided six Minneapolis anti-war and third world liberation activists' homes on Friday. Homes in Michigan, North Carolina, and Illinois were also raided. The raid was conducted in order to find information on these activists' connections to "foreign terrorist organizations."

There were no arrests in Minneapolis, but several of the activists have been subpoenaed to appear before a grand jury. Victim Mick Kelly had his home searched by police for information on his travel budget for trips to Colombia and Palestine. They were also looking for connections to the Colombian FARC guerrillas and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine. Hezbollah's name was somehow thrown in the mix as well. Kelly insists that he doesn't have connections to these groups and that the raids were an attempt to intimidate anti-war activists.

The search warrants were signed by Federal Minnesota District Magistrate Judge Susan Nelson. The raid was carried out as part of a "Joint Terrorism Task Force" investigation.

Two Chicago activists were raided as well. No arrests were made, and the FBI spokesman for Chicago even said the victims weren't an "imminent threat to the community." Oddly enough, they were also raided under the guise of "anti-terrorism." How can one be a terrorist menace and not be a threat to the community? Obviously this was done to intimidate activists!

In all of the raids, police seized computers, cellphones, and documents from the activists.

Freedom Road Socialist Organization (a Marxist-Leninist group) seems to be one of the main targets. Students for a Democratic Society, Palestine Solidarity Group, and the Twin Cities Antiwar Committee were also targeted by government thugs.

Help South African Farm Workers Fight for Their Rights

If you've been keeping up with the International Solidarity Commission of the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW), a radical left labor union, then you would be familiar with the CSAAWU. The IWW has been working in solidarity with them for the past few months.

CSAAWU, or Commercial Stevedoring Agriculture and Allied Workers Union, is a socialist union in South Africa. They are currently struggling for the rights of poor, black farm workers. Faced with poverty conditions, these workers are subject to an economic apartheid. Whites own and manage the farms (as well as the factories associated with them) and native Africans work them for low wages.

Below is a powerful video that can explain things better than this blogger. If you call yourself a leftist, a unionist, a Maoist, or what have you, then you'd pitch in a few dollars to The Partisan's fund to help the CSAAWU. The money collected will be sent to our comrades in South Africa via our local IWW members. No amount is too little! Simply click the donate option on the left side of the screen.

Blackwater Working for Monsanto Company and Canada

Blackwater, now called Xe, is back in the news again after it was reported that they have provided services to the Canadian Military, the Netherlands Police, and Monsanto Company.

Blackwater/Xe is a mercenary force most famous for its controversial run in Iraq under the Bush administration. Jeremy Scahill, a journalist who wrote a book on the soldiers of fortune, said:

"... entities closely linked to the private security firm Blackwater have provided intelligence, training and security services to US and foreign governments as well as several multinational corporations, including Monsanto, Chevron, the Walt Disney Company, Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines and banking giants Deutsche Bank and Barclays, according to documents obtained by The Nation. Blackwater's work for corporations and government agencies was contracted using two companies owned by Blackwater's owner and founder, Erik Prince: Total Intelligence Solutions and the Terrorism Research Center (TRC). Prince is listed as the chairman of both companies in internal company documents, which show how the web of companies functions as a highly coordinated operation."

A spokesperson for Monsanto said his company paid Total Intelligence for reports on groups and individuals that could pose a threat to the company wherever it operates. Total Intelligence worked on this by monitoring local news reports and searching the pages of activist blogs and websites. It didn't stop there, Blackwater's puppet company also infiltrated anti-Monsanto activist groups.

This is no surprise, given the fact that Monsanto is the same company that gave the world Agent Orange.

Another one of Blackwater/Xe's subsidiaries, the Terrorism Research Center, was paid over $1.6 million by Canada to provide training to its soldiers. This violation of the US export control laws, as well as other violations by the private death squad, incurred a fine of only $42 million. This is a mere slap on the wrist given the fact that Xe is raking in billions and has grown enormously over the past few years.

Blackwater is famous for killing 17 Iraqis and wounding 22 others in an unprovoked attack in 2007. It changed its name to Xe in 2009 as part of a public image makeover. Its founder Erik Prince is a known radical Christian fundamentalist.

Romania's health care system near collapse

The following was taken from PSLweb.org

A complete lack of basic medical supplies and trained staff in Romanian hospitals point to dire problems in the country’s health care system. Patients are faced with a lack of staff and under-funding. Doctors demand financial compensation from patients seeking treatment, which low-paid workers and the unemployed can ill-afford.

"Incompetence, indifference and irresponsibility together equal crime," said Agnes Sekely, a Romanian accountant. "Guilty are the doctors, the nurses, the guards, the electricians, the lack of funding, in short the whole system.”

Health care was provided free of charge by the state after Romania became part of the socialist bloc following World War II. Annual expenditures for public health rose considerably, and the number of doctors and hospital beds available to the population rose concurrently.

Following the victory of the counterrevolution in 1989, the system has been progressively privatized, and the quality of health care is in sharp decline. Romania’s hospitals are now “on the ropes,” according to an Aug. 23 Associated Press report.

Largest US nuclear warships arrive in the Philippines to join counter-insurgency operations

US military troops masquerading as actors in humanitarian missions have been repeatedly exposed as having overtly participated in Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) combat operations against the New People’s Army (NPA) in different areas in the country, as well as against the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) in Mindanao.

The US Counter-Insurgency Guide confirms military assistance to “affected governments” like the Philippines in defeating the Communist Party of the Philippines, New People’s Army, and the National Democratic Front of the Philippines (CPP-NPA-NDF), which it calls “terrorist”. It is also a reassertion of US imperialism’s containment and engagement policy against its economic rivals in East Asia and the Pacific, to secure its geo-political interest in the region.

This unmasks the US-Aquino regime of its total disregard for the national sovereignty and its subservience to US imperialism remarkably within the first 100 days of office.

The arrival of the 6,000 crewmember-strong USS George Washington, accompanied by three missile-guided destroyers, is one of the most blatant in a string of recent incursions into Philippine territory, which deserves no less than the people’s outright condemnation.

It is not surprising for Aquino government, however, to have allowed this latest travesty committed by the US Armed Forces against the people’s sovereign right since Noynoy Aquino’s recent pre-programmed electoral victory was made possible by US imperialist machinations.

US imperialism, being on the brink of a deep economic crisis, is insistent on securing new territories to siphon out natural resources like gas reserves and to open new markets for consumers for its surplus products. Having failed to acquire gas reserves in Iraq and is now sucked in deep in the quagmire of a costly war there, the US imperial power simply turns its eyes on the Philippines as its “Second Front,” where rich oil reserves just narrowly lie below the soils in Sulu and Palawan, in Liguasan Marsh and in the Agusan-Compostela Valley basin.

US imperialism is foisting its military power on Southeast Asia, particularly in the Philippines, and flagrantly declares its flat out support for the Aquino regime’s counter-insurgency war against the revolutionary movement to secure its economic interest and maintain its politico-military hegemony in the region. This latest incursion is nothing short of the re-imposition of the US imperialist’s war against the Filipino people’s movement for democracy and national liberation.

In Mindanao in particular, this signals the escalation of a more aggressive military intervention aimed at ‘reducing to inconsequentiality’ both the New People’s Army (NPA) and the Moro people’s armed resistance.

It will no less embolden US soldiers, especially those who are already based in Mindanao, to involve themselves more directly in intensified military operations and espionage against the people’s revolutionary movement in the island and the rest of the country. As a result, more and more US servicemen, together with their local fascist counterparts, will figure in committing wanton abuses against human rights such as torture, enforced disappearances, threatening entire peasant and Lumad communities, indiscriminate firing, burning down of villages, psy-war tactics, the rape of our women, and, of course, extra-judicial killings.

The NDFP in Mindanao enjoins the Filipino people to bring it to the attention of the Aquino government that allowing US nuclear warships to impose itself on Philippine shores, in complete disregard of the Filipino nation’s sovereignty, is a step closer to betraying the people’s trust. If the Aquino government is at all for the defense of the nation’s best interest, it must protect the integrity and security of the people first before pandering to the interests of a foreign imperialist power.

We call on all those who, in the past, have boldly fought hard against the continued basing of US military forces in the country – nationalist statesmen, church people and others who have been moved by genuine love of country – to break the silence and step up to assert true nationalism by defending the Filipino nation’s sovereign right.

Article on the Richmond 9/11 Protest Group

The Richmond Federal Reserve building stands tall over the city, a grim reminder of the power and long-time criminality of the United States government and its corporate masters. On 9/11/01, the American elites, the people represented by the Federal Reserve, with the help of the fascist Bush regime, carried out one of the biggest false flag attacks in history, resulting in the deaths of thousands of people.

Queue the “Justice Enforcement League,” a multi-tendency organization that knows the truth about the lies and slanders of the US government. On 9/11/10, they will hold a rally by the Richmond Federal Reserve building to raise awareness about how and why the US elites carried out the attacks back in 2001, which were blamed on imaginary “terrorists.” With a clear view of who the enemy is, the Justice Enforcement League aims to “serve the people, honor the truth, and uphold the Constitution.”

In the past, its members have been constantly harassed by the Richmond Police and censored by the Richmond Times Dispatch. One of its members, Chris Dorsey, was even removed from a public forum for criticizing VA politician Eric Cantor. The police even threatened to shoot him while in handcuffs. Add the previously mentioned groups to a list including Northrop Grumman, the military-industrial complex in general, as well as VA Governors Kaine, Warner, McDonnel, and one Bobby Scott. There you have the main list of enemies for the JEL. Quite a fight!

Along with the threats, we must point out the shady character of the American ruling class. Why is it that Bill Bergman of the Chicago Federal Reserve was fired for investigating short selling and monetary abnormalities a short while before September 11, 2001?

Follow the money, find the culprits!

Show up at the Kanawha Plaza or in front of the Richmond Federal Reserve (they're close) to protest on Saturday, September 11.

http://stj911.org/paul/SDGJ_Bios.html

http://www.historycommons.org/timeline.jsp?timeline=complete_911_timeline&before_9%2F11=insidertrading

http://whatreallyhappened.com/WRHARTICLES/911stand.html?q=911stand.html

Jimmy John's Unionized

The following article was taken from Liberation News (linked to on left in News section)

Workers at nine Jimmy John's sandwich restaurant locations across Minneapolis walked out to demand better wages, sick days, regular breaks, compensation for injuries, and better working conditions among other things. The work stoppage was the birth of the Jimmy John's Workers Union, an effort to organize the workers of the fast food franchise.

“I have been working at Jimmy John's for over two years and they still pay me minimum wage and schedule me one-hour shifts,” said Jimmy John’s employee Rikki Olsen. “I'm working my way through school and can barely make ends meet. I'd get another job, but things are just as bad across the service industry. Companies like Jimmy John's are profitable and growing, they need to provide quality jobs for the community.”

The Minneapolis franchise, owned by Mike and Rob Mulligan of Miklin Enterprises, Inc., pays minimum wage and offers full-time employment only for management positions. According to the Jimmy John's Workers Union website, the owners of Miklin Enterprises, Inc. made an estimated $2.3 million in profit last year, and plan to open new stores soon.

“If Mike and Rob Mulligan [the owners] have the money to open four new stores, then they have the money to pay us more than minimum wage," said a driver for Jimmy John's.

The franchise owners recently refused to meet with the union, provoking the workers to take action nationwide on Labor Day. Picketing and leafleting happened in 32 of the 39 states in which Jimmy John’s operates and brought business to a standstill on Sept. 2 with the support of 100 workers and allies.

“If Mike and Rob won't just sit down and meet with us, we feel we have no other choice but to put pressure on them to listen. We are going to show Jimmy John's corporate that if they don't ensure that their franchise owners are respecting their employees, there will be consequences at the national level,” said Emily Przybylsky, a Jimmy John’s worker in Minneapolis.

In an overt attack on the workers, the company has posted on Craigslist that it is hiring at all locations. The pay is only 50 cents more than what the rest of the workers are getting.

The Jimmy John's Workers Union was formed by, and is affiliated with, the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW). The high degree of exploitation faced by Jimmy John’s workers is common in the fast food industry, and speaks volumes to the importance of labor organizing. This new development not only improves the position of the workers of the franchise vis-à-vis the company’s management, but may also set the stage for similar efforts in an industry with some of the lowest levels of labor organization. Militant efforts to organize workers are much needed to overcome the setbacks suffered by labor amid the economic crisis.

For more information, please visit:
http://jimmyjohnsworkers.org/front
http://iww.org/