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Gay Rights Protesters Will Picket "Unity 2004" Reception for DNC Delegates |
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by DontAmend.com, ATDontAmend (nospam) aol.com |
 DontAmend.com has been outraged that national gay rights organizations have demanded nothing around equal marriage rights from the Democrats. "Rather than forthrightly saying that the civil rights of millions of Americans should be defended, most Democratic politicians have treated our equal marriage rights as at best, an unfortunate 'diversion' in their election campaigns," said Andy Thayer, National Action Coordinator for DontAmend.com. In addition to Kerry, other leading Democrats in Massachusetts are in the forefront of a move which could once again ban gay marriage there as early as 2006. |
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26 Jul 2004
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Filed under: News / DNC : GLBT/Queer |
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Racial Profiling at DNC: Man Arrested for Protesting While Brown |
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by Steve Iskovitz, steveisk (nospam) yahoo.com |
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As the International ANSWER march reached the Fleet Center (site of the Democratic National Convention), the Secret Service detained for questioning a demonstrator apparently of South Asian (Indian or Pakistani) descent for "looking around"--a clear act of racial profiling. He has since been released. |
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26 Jul 2004
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Filed under: News / DNC : Human Rights : Race |
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Danger - Free Speech Zone: Keep Out! |
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by Gan Golan, gansolo (nospam) hotmail.com |
 Last night, I had my first direct experience with the so-called free speech zone. It left me with one conclusion, whatever you do, do NOT go inside. It’s not only a blatant offense to free speech, but it is highly dangerous and unsafe. I would suggest protesting anywhere in Boston but inside of it.
Here’s the story. After having dinner in Boston, about 9 activists and myself thought we would take an after dinner stroll to check out the space that the city of Boston had reserved for the citizenry to express themselves. For several minutes, it was hard to find the entrances, as the outside is a intractable mess of fencing, piles of stored construction equipment and wire, with a large sign posted the main entrance that stated, “Hard Hat Area: No admittance” It took a while for us to realize we could use these to enter, in direct contradiction to the signs directive.
speech, but it is highly dangerous and unsafe. I would suggest protesting anywhere in Boston but inside of it. |
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FBI Intimidation Escalates |
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by Pete Stidman, pstidman (nospam) yahoo.com |
 Anarchists in Four States Harassed
In what seems to be a campaign to intimidate and discourage activists across the country from attending upcoming protests in Boston, New York, and Washington DC, FBI Agents have tracked, intimidated, and questioned over twenty anarchists in Boston, Kansas, Missouri, and Colorado.
FBI agents have given the subjects of these investigations conflicting reasons for the questioning. One agent in Kansas City stated that the agency was worried about the “E.L.F., the A.L.F. and P.E.T.A.” Another in Denver reportedly mentioned the Anarchist Black Cross and asked activists if they planned to engage in “terrorist activities.” Some agents claimed they were investigating the possibility that news trucks may be attacked by radicals, even though the FBI has not even stated whether the information the investigation is based on is credible or not. |
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25 Jul 2004
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Filed under: News / DNC : Human Rights : Organizing |
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This is What Democracy Looks Like |
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by Jeeni Criscenzo, jeeni (nospam) cpr4democracy.com |
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How do I describe the sense of dread that crawled under my skin as I observed that there were only two entrance/exits to this long narrow cage enclosed with two chain link fences, covered with a mesh net, topped with two rolls of razor wire... |
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The Boston Social Forum: Another World is Possible |
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by S. Eppler, SveaSCA (nospam) Yahoo.com |
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Starting on July 23rd, 2004, thousands of progressive individuals and organizations came together for the 3 day Boston Social Forum (BSF, http://www.bostonsocialforum.org). Following the 2004 model of the World Social Forum that took place in Mumbai, India, the Boston Social Forum is not a platform or an organization, and is, in their words, an “open space… a meeting place for reflective thinking, democratic debate of ideas, formulation of proposals, free exchange of experiences and interlinking for effective action by groups and movements… committed to building a society centered on the human person.” |
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25 Jul 2004
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Filed under: News / DNC : Organizing |
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Crack Down in Boston Continues |
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by Seeds of Peace, coffeepoo3 (nospam) yahoo.com |
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Earlier today activists from Seeds of Peace and the Boston Center for Non-Violent Social Change were detained and searched for 4 and half-hours. Activists from Seeds of Peace arrived in Boston with their bus converted to be utilized as a mobile kitchen for events in Boston during the DNC as well as the DNC2RNC march. The Boston Center for Non-Violent Social Change had secured a lease on private property to park the bus through the week of the DNC. |
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25 Jul 2004
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Filed under: News / DNC : Human Rights |
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NLG & ACLU Appeal Judge's Decision That the DNC Week "Free Speech Zone" is Legal |
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by National Lawyer's Guild, |
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The Massachusetts Chapter of the National Lawyers Guild (“NLG”) and the American Civil Liberties Union of Massachusetts (“ACLUM”) filed an appeal of the judge’s decision in the federal district court lawsuit brought on behalf of the public and members of the Bl(A)ck Tea Society, United for Peace With Justice and the Boston Coalition for Palestinian Rights against the City of Boston opposing the City’s unconstitutional attempts to confine and restrict demonstrators at the 2004 Democratic National Convention (“DNC”) to a claustrophobic and unsafe so-called “demonstration zone.” Despite the fact that Judge Woodlock stated that “[o]ne cannot conceive of what other elements you would put in place to make a space more of an affront to the ideal of free expression than the designated demonstration zone,” he ruled that this shocking infringement on plaintiffs’ First Amendment rights was lawful. |
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24 Jul 2004
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Filed under: News / DNC : Human Rights |
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