Why Are Things As They Are?

Dear Friends,

Reason is beginning to connect to power, in schools and out. In the name of Joe Hill, alive as ever 95 years on, “Don’t Mourn, Organize!” Check out all the direct action in schools and out, below!

The core issue of our time: The real promise of perpetual war and rising inequality met by the potential of a mass class conscious movement for equality and justice.

“There has never been a protracted war from which a country has benefited.” Sun Tzu

On the Education Agenda is a Class War Agenda Front—Direct Action and Research:

A Sixth Grader Speaks To Obama About Cuts, War, Tests, and His Future: www.youtube.com/watch?v=ygXW1QnV2pE

Video–Dozens Arrested At UC Davis Occupation: www.sacbee.com/topstories/story/2336989.html

Students Seize UCLA Building Prior to Final Vote Approving 32% UC Hike: “We choose to fight back, to resist, where we find ourselves, the place where we live and work, our university,” latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2009/11/ucla-protests.html
uclaresists.blogspot.com/2009/11/communique-from-ucla-occupation.html#comment-form (send a solidarity statement!)

On the Spot Video From Wednesday UCLA Action (thanks Marc): www.youtube.com/watch?v=c1O45rfx-pc&feature=related
inflation.us/videos.html

UC Berkeley Students Seize Wheeler Hall: The demonstrators occupied Wheeler Hall and hung a sign out of a window that read “32 Percent Hike, 900 layoffs,” with the word “Class” crossed out in red. A group of students also rallied outside the building.
Campus police said they had arrested three of the demonstrators inside.
www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5gi_1CaTjFsR3j2QntpKsXZY0sP1gD9C3DOT00

and more video from Regents meeting: www.youtube.com/watch?v=hdVi30aPofI&feature=related

14 Arrested Wednesday as UC Regents Committee Approves $2,500 Fee Hike: latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2009/11/a-university-of-california-board-of-regents-committee-today-approved-a-series-of-controversial-increases-in-student-fees-that.html

UC Berkeley Rally Seizes Intersection: www.youtube.com/watch?v=4_w0CToZjCc&feature=related

NYTimes On UC Occupations: www.nytimes.com/aponline/2009/11/20/us/AP-US-California-University-Fees.html?_r=1

NYU Occuptation Continues: “Last night around 9PM roughly 30 students broke through the police barriers and enetered the occupied area of the building.  The police attempted to stop the students using the usual police brutality, pepper spray, and heavy
handedness we all know far to well, but the students could not be stopped. Also last night a group of students reported to number around 400 gathered outside the Kimmel Center, expressing their support and solidarity with those  inside the building.
en.wordpress.com/tag/nyu-occupation-contineus-2009/

Video: United Teachers of Richmond rank and file force recount, reverse sellout contract, for now; Threatened with Arrest by the Pixie, union boss:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=eq6eInj5pA4

UCSC Students Force Library Open: “More than 100 students occupied the UC Santa Cruz Science and Engineering Library Friday night in protest of budget cuts and the decision to close the library at 5 p.m. on Fridays and all day Saturdays. According to student protester Brian Glasscock, the protesters had permission from library administration to do the overnight sit-in. As students flooded the library’s lobby at closing time on Friday, Glasscock said staff told them the sit-in was not permitted. “”Regrettably, this particular activity is costing us additional resources as we have to staff the library as long as they are in there,” said Jim Burns, campus spokesman. “It’s going to strain already depleted library funding.” www.pasadenastarnews.com/california/ci_13785269

SDSU Students March on Prez Office, NO MORE CUTS! www.kpbs.org/news/2009/nov/03/university-students-continue-rise/

Rescue Education From the Ruling Classes; Strike March 4: “We refuse to let those in power continue to pit us against each other. If we unite, we have the power to shut down business-as-usual and to force those in power to grant our demands. Building a powerful movement to defend public education will, in turn, advance the struggle in defense of all public-sector workers and services. We call on all students, workers, teachers, parents, and their organizations across the state to endorse this call and massively mobilize and organize for the Strike and Day of Action on March 4.”
takeastand4publiced.org/

Southwestern College Suspensions Not Suspensions but Prohibitions?
www.insidehighered.com/news/2009/11/02/southwestern and from the horses’s mouths:
saveourswc.blogspot.com/2009/10/swc-faculty-and-staff-respond-to.html

The War on Kids: “…this provocative documentary suggests a system regulated by fear and motivated by the desire to control.”
www.nytimes.com/2009/11/18/movies/18kids.html?_r=1&scp=1&sq=war%20on%20kids&st=cse

Duncan, Sharpton, Gingrich Education HugFest in Baltimore: www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/11/13/AR2009111303012.html?referrer=emailarticle

Marion Brady Attacks RaTT: “The familiar, traditional curriculum is so at odds with the natural desire to learn that laws, threats and other extrinsic motivators are necessary to keep kids in their seats and on task.” voices.washingtonpost.com/answer-sheet/race-to-the-top/my-guest-today-is-marion.html

All vs All: States Fight Over RaTT Bribe: “I worry about a backlash from furious states that don’t get money,” Ms. Walsh said.
www.nytimes.com/2009/11/11/education/11educ.html?_r=1&hp

Alan Bersin: Border Goon, to Education Goon to Developer Goon to Border Goon, a Strange Career of Relentless Failure:
www.sandiegoreader.com/news/2009/nov/18/cover/

Wealthy Palm Beach Parents Rebel, Set Back School Boss: “Teaching is Not Testing.” But poor and working class kids in nearby Immokalee and Belle Glades remain under the gun. www.palmbeachpost.com/education/content/local_news/epaper/2009/10/31/a1a_school_flop_1101.html

Ohanian on the Broad Invasion of Detroit Public Schools and the Concurrent Crony Corruption: susanohanian.org/show_atrocities.php?id=8964

DPS: $40 Million to Harcourt Crony: www.detnews.com/article/20091031/SCHOOLS/910310345/1026/New-DPS-contract-sparks-concerns

DPS Passes $500 Million Bond 2-1, Victory for Broad/Bobb: www.detnews.com/article/20091103/SCHOOLS/911030422/Detroit-voters-approve-$500-million-school-bond

Detroit Kids Still Have No Books (and what of “supplies and lower class size?”): “The lack of textbooks can be found districtwide, from elementaries to elite programs like application high schools. Cass Tech High School, for example, is short more than 2,000 textbooks, ranging from U.S. history and algebra to Japanese, according a report by one teacher last month.”http://detnews.com/article/20091112/SCHOOLS/911120386/1026/schools/Getting-DPS-students-books-no-easy-task

San Diego State’s Admissions Shell Game; Now You’re In–Woops, You’re Not! So Long Pal! “To offset about $50 million in state budget cuts, the university plans to cut enrollment by about 4,600 students. The local admissions guarantee was called off by administrators, saying they needed more flexibility to improve “geographic diversity” and to ensure that slots go to students most likely to succeed.”
www.signonsandiego.com/news/2009/nov/09/sdsu-policy-change-admittance-draws-crowd/

In Lit Standards Drive, Conflicts of Interest:”At least one federal official made a significant financial profit from a reading program that he wrote and promoted while he was an adviser to states about the federal program, according to a 2007 Senate report. Another Reading First contractor and researcher received a large boost in income during the program’s tenure “http://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2009/11/04/10conflict_ep.h29.html?tkn=MRUFtpJ%2BXNWsrD0bW%2BMWroVaKW2C95UZ8FM%2B&intc=es

On the War, Chaos, Starvation, Theft, Ignorance, Pestilence, Fires, Boils, Bats, Beasts, Waste, Floods, and Other Things that Feed Capitalism Front: (“I would as soon leave my son a curse as the almighty dollar”–Andrew Carnegie).

UAW Members Reject Concessions While Fords Post $1Billion Profits:
www.detnews.com/article/20091102/AUTO01/911020383/1148/UAW-makes-it-official–Ford-concessions-rejected but UAW Boss Ignores Fords’ $Billion and Says He Didn’t “Sell” the Contract Well
www.freep.com/article/20091103/BUSINESS01/91103045/1320/Gettelfinger-We-didnt-sell-Ford-deal-well

Why is the US in AF-PAK? US Army Professional Writing collection: “the leitmotif of US energy policy has been focused on fostering the development of multiple pipelines and links to foreign consumers and producers of energy, one recent example including electricity to India.9 Central Asian energy states recognize that their security and prosperity are inextricably linked to the diversification of pipelines; a goal placing US and Central Asian interests in harmony. Washington has continuously sought the prevention of a Russian energy monopoly related to oil and has received considerable support from other nations in the global oil market. Unfortunately, America has not achieved as much success with regard to the natural gas market. At the same time America has sought to isolate Iran from inroads into Central Asian energy by urging various nations to build pipelines bypassing that country and by placing sanctions against those countries and firms that would trade with Iran.”http://www.army.mil/professionalwriting/volumes/volume6/august_2008/8_08_2.html

Did Big Oil Win in Iraq? “Before the United States and Britain invaded Iraq in March 2003, their oil companies were shut out of oil-production contracts being negotiated by the government of Saddam Hussein. Today, more than six years of war later, Saddam is gone, and the U.S. and British oil companies are not only in on the oil contracts, they have managed to sweeten the terms.However, organized resistance by Iraqis and people around the world has thus far succeeded in denying Big Oil its Big Prize: passage of the Iraq Oil Law, alternatively called Iraq Hydrocarbons Law, which would grant far greater control over Iraqi oil to foreign companies on terms much less favorable to Iraq than the current contracts provide.”
www.alternet.org/world/143879/did_big_oil_win_the_war_in_iraq

Hillbillary and Warlord Dostum Applaud Puppet Karzai: www.mcclatchydc.com/homepage/story/79199.html

Goldman Bet on the US Housing Crash, Fraudulently: www.mcclatchydc.com/227/story/77791.html

Hey, Where’s My Stim Job? Stim Me!! Peter Morici, a University of Maryland economist, said the results suggest the stimulus won’t deliver promised results. “All those claims,” he said, “are ridiculous.”
www.freep.com/article/20091115/NEWS15/311150005/1318/Where-are-the-jobs-from-federal-stimulus-money ?

The AIG Bailout Fraud: “The Fed “refused to use its considerable leverage,” wrote Neil Barofsky, the special inspector general for the Troubled Asset Relief Program, in a report issued on Tuesday that explained why the Fed had made A.I.G.’s trading partners whole at a time when people and businesses throughout the economy were taking painful losses as a result of the turmoil in the financial markets.
The report challenged Goldman Sachs’ position that it should not have been forced to bear losses on its dealings with A.I.G. because it had successfully hedged away any exposure. Mr. Barofsky said that Goldman’s hedges were unlikely to have held up amid the market turbulence.” dealbook.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/11/16/report-faults-handling-of-aig-bailout/?scp=3&sq=AIG&st=cse

Goldman Sach Says, “Sorry About That,” “We participated in things that were clearly wrong and have reason to regret,” he said. “We apologize.” www.nytimes.com/2009/11/18/business/18goldman.html?hp

Roy on the Maoists of India and the War on the Poor: “The people who have taken to arms are not spending all their time watching (or performing for) TV, or reading the papers, or conducting SMS polls for the Moral Science question of the day: Is Violence Good or Bad? SMS your reply to … They’re out there. They’re fighting. They believe they have the right to defend their homes and their land. They believe that they deserve justice. “http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2009/oct/30/mining-india-maoists-green-hunt

Maoists Rise in Nepal: “What we have been doing since 2005 is the path of preparation for general insurrection through our work in the urban areas and our participation in the coalition government.” mikeely.wordpress.com/

Russian Fascists Drag out the Stalin Card:
www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-russia-stalin2-2009nov02,0,2551543.story

Look Out San Diego, the Commies are Still After You! ”
Several speakers led by known “Reds” from Los Angeles ­ Jack Olsen, 22, and Jean Rand, 26 ­ took turns denouncing American imperialism and the capitalist system. President Franklin D. Roosevelt was attacked as a “Wall Street president” and leader of the “boss class.” According to the San Diego Union , “the Communists” appeared to be mostly “children, aliens and unfortunates headed by and herded by a handful of determined organizers.” “Many carried banners reading “All War Funds for Unemployed,” “Roosevelt’s New Deal: Hunger and War,” and “No Curtailment of Education.” www.signonsandiego.com/news/2009/nov/07/communist-protesters-were-pitted-against-police/

Spy vs Spy: CIA Convicted in Italy (but the spooks are long gone): www.globalpost.com/dispatch/diplomacy/091104/italy-the-cia-and-rendition

Fort Hood, Kileen and The Violent Life: “Staff Sgt. Gilberto Mota, 35, and his wife, Diana, 30, an Army specialist, had returned to Fort Hood from Iraq last year when he used his gun to kill her, and then took his own life, the authorities say. In July, two members of the First Cavalry Division, also just back from the war with decorations for their service, were at a party when one killed the other.”
www.nytimes.com/2009/11/10/us/10post.html?_r=1&hp

Most on Detroit City Council Pack Heat: freep.com/article/20091110/COL10/911100398/1319/New-City-Council-locked-and-loaded—-literally

One in Seven in USA are Hungry: www.reuters.com/article/topNews/idUSTRE5AF42220091116

On The Bankrupt and Corrupt AFL-CIO, Labor Educator Harry Kelber Says, “The AFL-CIO as been sliding into insolvency, but the news has been kept from the union membership. A “White Paper,” prepared by the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers disclosed that the AFL-CIO’s net assets had dropped from $66 million on July 1, 2000 to a negative of $2.3 million by June 30, 2008. Also, the Federation’s liabilities, as of June 30, 2008, exceeded $90.7 million, and that was before its massive outlays in the 2008 general election campaign. AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka, then secretary-treasurer, increased his basic salary of $165,000 by an extra $74,000 between 2005 and 2008, without ever explaining why he deserved it. In fact, throughout his 14 years in that office, he kept union members in the dark about how their dues money was being spent.(The AFL Secretary Treasurer, and inexperienced hack from the IBEW, now earns $239,000 a year–rg).”

More than 16 Million Americans Are Now Jobless. Food Bank Requests are Up 40 percent in some areas, with former donors becoming recipients. 1 in 10 People With Mortgages in the USA are now 2 Months or More Behind.

We Remember Joe Hill, 95 Years On. The working class and the employing class have nothing in common!
www.truthout.org/1119094#comment-148447

Thanks to Adam and Gina, the AESA gang, Kev, Steve, David, Abraham, Wayne, The Blues Boy, Donna, Lucy W., Kathy K, Bill B, Greg and Katie (all for a good trip!), MrJ, Perry, Kathryn, Ken and Barb, Candy and Peter, Shelly, David, Agopes, Carol H, Della, the Susans, Jack, Marc, Joe and Hal, John Chang, Dirty Ed and Susanne, Eric, Steve, Dennis, and Kay T.

Good luck to us, every one.

r