Nick Cooper from Houston Indymedia Radio interviews Deloyd Parker of the Shape Community Center

This Way Out #1,312 Program Rundown:
Opening teases/theme music/intro continuity . . . . . . . . . . 1:07

SEGMENT #1 – "NewsWrap": The annual International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia (IDAHOT) is observed on May 17th by the United Nations [with brief comments by U.N. HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSIONER NAVI PILLAY and SECRETARY GENERAL BAN KI-MOON], and in a variety of events across Asia, but police shut down an IDAHOT march in Nairobi and a rally on the same day in St. Petersburg, while several people are injured as religious extremists violently attack an IDAHOT rally in the Georgian capital of Tbilisi, and anti-gay demonstrators in Kiev succeed in getting a proposed bill in the Ukrainian parliament to ban sexual orientation-based workplace bias shelved indefinitely; according to a largest-of-its-kind survey by the European Union's Fundamental Rights Agency, virtually one in two LGBT people on the continent have been discriminated against or attacked during the last year for being who they are; a young Russian man is brutally tortured and murdered in Volgograd after reportedly coming out to two of his drinking buddies, although one news source says his parents claim that he wasn't gay; a near-unanimous ruling by Brazil's National Council of Justice virtually opens civil marriage to same-gender couples in Latin America's largest country, while President Francois Hollande signs legislation to open civil marriage and extend adoption rights to French same-gender couples the day after a ruling by the nation's highest court clears the way, and Governor Mark Dayton's signature officially makes Minnesota the 12th U.S. state with marriage equality; Italy's new Prime Minister Enrico Letta quashes a proposal by his own Equality Minister Josefa Idem to create some form of legal recognition for lesbian and gay couples, but Italy's lower house of parliament extends health insurance coverage to its members' same-gender partners, and a court in Milan recognizes the British civil partnership of an Italian gay couple as a legal union (written by GREG GORDON, produced this week by WENZEL JONES & STEVE PRIDE, & reported by JASON PROCTOR & NATALIE PEOPLES) . 10:38

SEGMENT #2 – Billboard for Linda Harvey and Riley Roberts features [:11] + MINNESOTA voters defeated a proposed constitutional amendment last November to make marriage exclusively heterosexual, and barely six months later the state House of Representatives passed a bill to open civil marriage to same-gender couples. "This Way Out" correspondent DIXIE TREICHEL (from "Fresh Fruit" on KFAI-FM/Minneapolis-St. Paul) was at the Capitol in St. Paul on May 13th when the state Senate cast its final vote on the bill (with comments by "out" REPRESENTATIVE KAREN CLARK and SENATOR SCOTT DIBBLE, MINNEAPOLIS MAYOR R.T. RYBAK, and people outside and inside the chamber) [4:38] . . . . . . . . . 4:49

SEGMENT #3 – MSNBC news commentator RACHEL MADDOW tracks the history that led up to marriage equality in Minnesota . . . . . . . . . 3:52
[www.msnbc.com]

SEGMENT #4 - "TWO" I.D. by human rights activist CLEVE JONES [:10] + While much of the U.S. seems to be on a steady roll into a future of equality, some segments of society are spinning in a counterclockwise direction. Based in the U.S. Midwest, MISSION: AMERICA has been designated a hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center. Its president and founder LINDA HARVEY used her weekly radio show recently to spew an ignorant screed about the "dangers" to impressionable young people posed by online information about LGBT people (with brief intro music from "Pleasant Valley Sunday" by THE MONKEES) [2:58]. . . 3:08

SEGMENT #5 – Linda Harvey's sugarcoated hate speech and bizarre distortions fly in the face of the lived experience of real LGBT families. Stories like the one told by 18-year-old RILEY ROBERTS of RENO filled the hearing room when a NEVADA State Assembly committee heard testimony in support of marriage equality on May 9h (with brief intro/outro music from "Love Is All It Takes (To Make A Family)" by ROMANOVSKY & PHILLIPS). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3:52

Closing Credits/continuity. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1:33

TOTAL PROGRAM TIME. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28:59

http://www.thiswayout.org

This Way Out #1,311 Program Rundown:
Opening teases/theme music/intro continuity. . . . . . . . . . 1:08

SEGMENT #1 – "NewsWrap": Delaware becomes the 11th U.S. state –- along with the District of Columbia –- to open civil marriage to same-gender couples, and Minnesota and Illinois could be next; debate on the third and final reading of the Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Bill in Britain's House of Commons has been scheduled for May 21st and 22nd, while Australia's Greens push for a new vote on marriage equality ahead of general elections there, but more than 35,000 people sign a petition opposing marriage equality in Estonia; Albania's parliament passes historic LGBT-inclusive hate crimes legislation, but the persecution of two gay men continues in Zambia, and Auckland, New Zealand demonstrators protest the offensive treatment of a McDonald's staff member who was told by his manager that he'd be disciplined if he "acted gay" during his shift; and winners in Sydney, Australia of the annual "Glorias" –- the Gay & Lesbian Outrageous, Ridiculous and Ignorant comment Awards –- include New South Wales roads minister Duncan Gay, "Herald Sun" columnist Andrew Bolt, rightwing U.K. politician John Sullivan, and American Southern Baptist Convention President Reverend Fred Luter (written by GREG GORDON, produced by STEVE PRIDE, and reported this week by TANYA KANE-PARRY and ROBERT LEBLANC). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10:54

SEGMENT #2 – Billboard for the Deadly Nightshade feature [:06] + What have lesbian pro athletes been doing since 1981 that gay male athletes have not? "This Way Out" correspondent MICHELLE-MARIE GILKESON hit the streets to get the score (with brief intro/outro music from "Blazing Arrow" by BLACKALICIOUS) [7:42] . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7:48

SEGMENT #3 - "TWO" I.D./"Support your local public radio station" appeal by JANIS IAN [:10] + 38 years between albums? Not many bands live to see the day. "Queer Music Heritage" historian JD DOYLE profiles this trailblazing comeback act then and now (includes excerpts from "Keep on the Sunnyside" and "High Flying Woman", each from 1975, and "Don't the Lovers Ever Win" from their new CD "NEVER EVER GONNA STOP") [7:29]. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7:39
[www.thedeadlynightshade.net; www.queermusicheritage.com]

Closing Credits/continuity. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1:29

TOTAL PROGRAM TIME. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28:58

http://www.thiswayout.org

Weekly News Update on the Americas
Issue #1158, December 30, 2012

1. Mexico: Remaining Detainees From Dec. 1 Protests Are Freed
2. Argentina: Silver Mine Is Defeated, But Chevron Gets Fracking Deal
3. Argentina: Ex-President Gets Off for 2001 Repression
4. Chile: Ex-Officers to Stand Trial for Jara Murder
5. Cuba: Imprisoned Spanish Rightist Is Sent Home
6. Links to alternative sources on: Argentina, Bolivia, Peru, Venezuela, Honduras, Mexico

ISSN#: 1084 922X. Weekly News Update on the Americas covers news from Latin America and the Caribbean, compiled and written from a progressive perspective. It has been published weekly by the Nicaragua Solidarity Network of Greater New York since 1990. It is archived at  http://weeklynewsupdate.blogspot.com. For a subscription, write to  weeklynewsupdate@gmail.com. Follow us on Twitter at  http://twitter.com/WeeklyNewsUpdat.

Note: There will be links but no Update on January 6, 2013. Publication will resume the following week.

*1. Mexico: Remaining Detainees From Dec. 1 Protests Are Freed
On the evening of Dec. 27 the authorities in Mexico’s Federal District (DF, Mexico City) released 13 men and one woman who had been in detention since Dec. 1 on charges of “attacks on the public peace” during protests that day against the inauguration of President Enrique Peña Nieto. A total of 106 people were arrested during the demonstrations, in which masked youths caused considerable property damage, but 92 of the detainees were released within eight days, after human rights organizations and the DF’s own Human Rights Commission (CDHDF) presented evidence that many detainees were clearly not involved in the destruction [see Update #1155].

The continuing detention of the remaining 14 arrestees sparked protests and the creation of a defense committee, the Dec. 1 Coordinating Committee.[...]

Read the full Update:
 http://weeklynewsupdate.blogspot.com/2012/12/wnu-1158-mexico-frees-last-detainees.html

Also available at:
 http://ww4report.com/

Boston,Mass.-Dec. 31, 2012: Boston anti-war activists held a peace vigil in Copley Square, Boston in the midst of Boston's New Years Eve 2013 festivities.

As the holiday season hit full force at the shopping/vacation destination of Carmel by the Sea, former La Playa Hotel workers continued to remain hopeful that some of those in attendance at a labor rally at the hotel on December 20 would receive back the jobs that they lost over a year ago. Since the hotel re-opened over the summer, only three of the former 113 workers have been re-hired. At the holiday-themed rally there was some buzz around the idea that La Playa Carmel may soon be looking to hire new workers in its housekeeping department.

At the rally, workers and community members sang classic Christmas carols that were updated for the labor theme and an organizer with Unite Here Local 483, the union that represents hospitality workers in Monterey and Santa Cruz counties, dressed up as Santa Claus and handed out candy from a basket to enthusiastic picketers.

Some individuals carried and shook bells as they picketed La Playa, and a small group assisted by Santa delivered a bag of coal to hotel management, who brought it inside the hotel only to bring it back out and return it back to demonstrators a few minutes later.

Read More and View Photos and Videos | Previous Coverage: La Playa Carmel Labor Demonstrations Receive Boost from Quail Lodge Contract Victory | Boycott of La Playa Carmel Announced at Hotel Workers Rally | Carmel Becomes Center of Conflict in Monterey Bay Hotel Industry

In Canada, a budget bill (C-45) supported by Prime Minister Stephen Harper and other conservative lawmakers, would unilaterally alter treaties with First Nations people, drastically affect lands and waterways on both sides of the U.S.-Canada border, and reduce jobs for all Canadians. This alarming development has caused unrest across the country. Chief Theresa Spence of the Attawapiskat is in her 18th day of a hunger strike (as of Friday December 28), which she says will last until she can speak with Prime Minister Harper and Canada's Governor General (who represents the English Crown) about the aforementioned treaty violations. She is prepared to die if her demands are not met.

Meanwhile, Indigenous teach-ins and demonstrations—including flash mobs in shopping malls and blocking of highways--have been occurring throughout the nation. Solidarity events and awareness-building have been occurring in the U.S. and in countries further to the south. Australian Aborigines have also expressed solidarity.

In Los Angeles, a weekly rally has been underway outside the Canadian consulate at 550 South Hope Street in downtown. On December 28, approximately 50 people turned out in the middle of a weekday. Natives from several areas were present (or represented), including the Owens Valley, Morongo, and Yangna (Los Angeles). A common sentiment expressed by speakers was, “if we won't do it, who will?”

Full story and photos: Idle No More – Los Angeles by Ross Plesset

VAN NUYS December 27, 2012--The Hernandez family, who became local heroes in their determination to keep their Van Nuys home from foreclosure, were evicted by the Los Angeles sheriffs and police at 4:30 this morning.

In what is fast becoming a symbol of the fight against fraudulent foreclosures, the Hernandez family built a barricade across the front of the property announcing "Government By, Of and For the People." They decorated their roof in Christmas lights proclaiming "Evict Banks" with members of Occupy San Fernando Valley, Occupy the Hood, and the Los Angeles Anti-Eviction Campaign. For 123 days, they staved off the Bank of New York-Mellon with the support of grassroots groups across Los Angeles. What is the nation's second-longest occupation ended this morning when the family and their friends were awakened by the sound of the slamming doors of dozens of law enforcement vehicles surrounding the 1400 block of Leadwell Street in Van Nuys.

Javier Hernandez purchased the property for his mother seven years ago. At the recommendation of the bank, he stopped making payments in order to receive a loan modification but was met with repeated rejections. His story is typical of those people, predominantly Black and Brown, who were sold subprime mortgages at the height of the housing boom. Like so many others, Javier's father was deported, Javier lost his job, and the value of the house plummeted. Javier has since found employment, so, just days before the bank ordered the eviction, he came to a settlement with the mortgage trustees and was waiting for court approval. He elaborated, "We presented sufficient income to make the payments, and yet they still came in and evicted us right before New Year's Eve." . . .

Full story and photos: Hernandez Family Foreclosure Sparks Anti-Eviction Outrage by Leslie Radford

Like most folks I talked with, I had only a vague idea of what “Strike Debt” was before showing up today to the Nov 11 Debtor’s Assembly in Love Park. Like them, having enough crippling debt in my life, the event piqued my interest.

As per usual in these instances, reports say teachers used themselves to hold up against doors in order to protect their terrified students. Additional reports tell of teachers calling 911 and their loved ones to say good bye.

"Honey, there is a shooter in the school killing our children. I love you. I love you. Please pray for us. Good bye."

New testimony by staffers also describes what may have been administration "school safety" admin being directed to push back against doors from the hallways to force their way into rooms as teachers desperately tried to keep them closed.

Horan Watch promises to "first and foremost make sure these kids get the care they need immediately. The other stuff will come later. Right now these parents don't know what happened and many of these kids may not have the words to tell them".

As UFT union administration and DOE administration arrived that week to discuss, it is reported that at least one of them attempted to cover his name badge as they refused to meet with their union members without the management in the room, and refused to even talk about what transpired during the drill. In fact, multiple sources claim that the UFT rep took the lead in threatening their own members that the principal will suspend anyone who continues to speak to press or reach out to parents.

"These students have spent their entire lives battling everyday to overcome severe emotional and cognitive disability. For any student in any school, this would be traumatic. To these kids it may prove further devastating to their rehabilitation" shared a petition signer at the Change.org call to action.

Petitioners from all over the country add, ""Next, are we going to light matches for all our school fire drills and let the kids think their school is really burning???""

""If someone staged a "mock massacre" in any other public building, City Hall perhaps, it would be considered an act of terrorism!""

"An unannounced drill in which it is broadcast that there is an intruder is bad enough for any school. But for a school of disabled kids, it's outrageous."

Horan Watch added, "First, there are kids all over the country are now benefiting from programs designed to answer their questions about the Sandy Hook massacre. By social workers. And here we have these kids, disabled, low-income kids of color, who were subjected to the many of the same events of a real school shooing without anyone to talk to whatsoever. Why? Because of an abusive administration trying to sweep them under the rug. Then you have the nation remembering again how amazing their teachers are, what they are prepared to do for their kids, with their lives... and as we remember them, these teachers who also used their bodies to save their kids, are going to be fired. Not to mention, the horror they had to endure. Imagine using your body to hold down a door that is being pushed by a shooter, calling your loved ones at their jobs to say goodbye to them. Only to find out the person pushing the door is your smirking management?"

How does Horan Watch plan to continue?

""We are parents. We are students. We are teachers. We're investigating deeper and deeper and we're going to name names until we find justice. This administration must go.""

Help Horanwatch by signing the petition on

CHANGE.ORG: A Staged School Shooting Traumatized 400 Disabled Kids and Teachers, We Demand Justice
 http://chn.ge/TgjLDj

 http://twitter.com/horanwatch
 http://horanwatch.org

Submitted by Ryan Acuff on Thu, 2012-12-20 00:00

City's Foreclosure Machine Stopped and Turned Around By Community Resistance

On Friday, December 21, 2012 at 1pm at 33 Bartlett St., Rochester, NY the Windom Bey family, Take Back the Land Rochester, and other community members will gather, hold a press conference and announce an incredible turnaround and victoryfor Windom Bey family.  The Windom’s struggle and the community protests became front page news of the Democrat and Chronicle and the Daily Record over the summer as the family became deadlocked with the City of Rochester in their fight to stay in their home of 40 years following an unjust tax foreclosure.  After two planned eviction blockades twice thwarted the eviction of the family from their home, the City and investor Sure Luck Homes 017, LLC changed their tuned as the Windom Bey family closed on the house last Friday getting the home back in their name.  After an 18 year struggle with the City of Rochester and later American Tax Funding and Sure Luck Homes 017, LLC the family now has the house back, giving them clean title for the time after being in the house almost 40 years. 

• Read more about Victory on Barlett Street: Windom Family Get Back their Home for the Holidays after 18 year Struggle and Several Protests
• Log in or register to post comments

On December 23, 2012, a large gathering of Indigenous people and their supporters surprised Christmas shoppers at Pioneer Place Mall in Portland Oregon with a flash mob and Round Dance.

The event was held in solidarity with the Idle No More Movement and to support First Nations Elder Chief Teresa Spencer who at this writing is on the 12th day of a hunger strike to bring awareness and recognition to indigenous treaty rights to all First Nations.

This movement which began in Canada has spread world wide, Europe, the Mid East, Australia, and Mexico, as well as scores of locations in the U.S. and Canada. Although far from a complete list, this map highlights some of the teach-ins, rallies, blockades, flash mob round dances and hunger strikes that have taken place or are being planned, as well as international solidarity actions taking place on four continents.

This video is a little under 12 minutes in length and features brief interviews with two of the indigenous people attending the event. It shows about 150 Native drummers and singers as well as many people engaged in the round dance around the perimeter.

Idle No More Flash Mob Round Dance


This "Idle No More Manifesto is excerpted from the Idle No More Facebook page

Related PIMC Video Post:
As Idle no more continues to spread indigenous people reassert there rights to there land.

The monthly meeting - December 2012
Filmed at Oregon Association of Minority Entrepreneur's office
4-6:30 pm 12.5.12
 http://youtu.be/wp0Ouki0qy8 [YouTube video 2.hr 32.min]

This video also can be viewed or downloaded on archive dot org:
 http://archive.org/details/VideoPortlandHumanRightsCommission-Meeting12.5.12

In this months Portland HRC meeting, which is open to the public, the meeting was filmed at OAME
(Oregon Association of Minority Entrepreneur's) office
Their office was located 4134 N Vancouver Street and their website is --  http://oame.org/

HRC meetings are usually around 2 hours 30 minutes long.
The meetings are held on the first Wed of the month.
Numerous times the meetings will take place out in the community.

Past HRC meeting / videos are archived here:
 http://www.joeanybody.com/id4.html

The Portland Human Rights Commission has a website here:
 http://www.portlandonline.com/equityandhumanrights/index.cfm?c=48749

A weekly 30 minute review of international news and opinion, recorded from a shortwave radio and the internet. With times, frequencies, and websites for listening at home. 3 files- Highest quality broadcast, regular broadcast, and slow-modem streaming. Radio Deutsche-Welle, the Voice of Russia, NHK Japan, China Radio International, and Radio Havana Cuba.

Dear Radio Friend,
The latest Shortwave Report (December 28) is up at the website  http://www.outfarpress.com/shortwave.shtml in 3 forms- (new) HIGHEST QUALITY (128kb)(27MB), broadcast quality (16MB), and quickdownload or streaming form (6MB) (28:59) Links at page bottom
(If you have access to Audioport there is a highest quality version posted up there {35MB}  http://www.audioport.org/index.php?op=producer-info&uid=904&nav=&) [...]

The Internationalist November-December 2012Get The Internationalist November-December 2012!

24 pages of revolutionary Trotskyist views you can't get anywhere else, US$0.50. Subscriptions by mail US$10. For copies contact your local Internationalist supporter, call 212-460-0983 (New York City) or 971-282-7903 (Portland, OR), or write to  internationalistgroup@msn.com. Send literature requests and payment to Mundial Publications, Box 3321 Church Street Station, New York, NY 10008 USA.

In this issue:
* A Capitalist Disaster: Class, Race and Hurricane Sandy
* No Choice for Workers in Capitalist Election Shell Game
* Los trabajadores de Hot and Crusty triunfan con contrato que abre camino
* Zionist Mass Murderers Strike Again: Defend Gaza!
* Barack Obama's Global Assassination Bureau
* Defend the ILWU!
* Don't Fall for the Mediation Trap! Mobilize for a Nationwide ILWU-ILA Port Strike
* Chicago Teachers: Strike Was Huge, Settlement Sucks
* UFT Censors Opposition to Obama Endorsement
* Fast Food Workers Need a Whopping Raise And a Fighting Union!
* For A Class-Struggle Fight Against Poverty Wages!
* Walmart Walkouts Show Potential for Class Struggle
* For Real Solidarity with Bangladesh Workers
* Working Families Party: Putting Lipstick on a Pig
* South Africa: Bloody Mine Massacre Unmasks ANC Neo-Apartheid Regime
* For a South African Internationalist Trotskyist Group
* Hot and Crusty Workers Win With Groundbreaking Contract

Ashland’s community radio station is about to get much louder. On October 31, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) approved an application to increase the strength of the broadcast signal for KSKQ 89.5 FM. The upgrade to 560 watts will allow KSKQ to reach much of the Rogue Valley, including Medford, Talent, Phoenix, Central Point, White City, and Jacksonville.

Soledad Corona is a single mother who was illegally evicted from her home by Bank of America on December 21st. She was relaxing in her home when she heard some strange noise at 9 o'clock in the morning. She looked outside the window and saw the sheriffs breaking her locks and entering her house. There were also 7 police cars outside. Corona had paper work from her lender, Bank of America, that promised her a loan modification. She tried to show them the paper work, but they did not want to look at it.

Corona said that she got very concerned about her 20 years old daughter, Victoria, who had a final in school that day. Corona said that she was treated as a criminal by the sheriff department and that they forced her out of the house at the gun point. She added, "I am a single mother and I am homeless for the Holidays."

Members of the Occupy Fight Foreclosure group as well as friends, neighbors and activists gathered in Soledad Corona's foreclosed house. . . .

Full article and photos: Occupy Fights Foreclosure Group Re-Occupies the Foreclosed House by Natasha Petrosova

19th Century Cartoon About British Invasion of Afghanistan
Afghanistan Graveyard of EmpiresWhat Wilde wrote 132 years ago is true today.. The Afghan war is violent, evil, illegal, stupid.

Oscar Wilde's poem Ave Imperatrix was published in 1881 and is an antiwar poem decrying Britain's 2nd invasion of Afghanistan in 1878. In 1842, only 1 British soldier survived in retreating from an invasion of Afghanistan. Currently Cameron keeps 9000
troops imperiled in an evil and illegal war in Afghanistan. Rudyard Kipling's poem copies Wilde's title. It was written in 1882 and glorifies imperial invasion and colonization. Wikipedia articles on the war as are those of the Washington Post and most tv networks in the US, biased in favor of the illegal invasion of a sovereign nation.

The Afghans have taught Alexander the Great, Turks, Russian Tsars, the Soviet Union,, and now the Americans and for the 3rd time the Brits painful lessons in respecting
sovereignty.

"In 1843, the British army chaplain Rev. G.R. Gleig wrote a memoir of the disastrous (First) Anglo-Afghan War, of which he was one of the very few survivors. He wrote that it was "a war begun for no wise purpose, carried on with a strange mixture of rashness and timidity, brought to a close after suffering and disaster, without much glory attached either to the government which directed, or the great body of troops which waged it. Not one benefit, political or military, was acquired with this war. Our eventual evacuation of the country resembled the retreat of an army defeated”. Gleig, George R. Sale's Brigade In Afghanistan, John Murray, 1879, p. 181.

Poster's note: With the exception of the namecalling regarding Russia, Wilde's poem is imho magnificent.

Oscar Wilde (1854–1900). Poems. 1881.

Ave Imperatrix

SET in this stormy Northern sea,
Queen of these restless fields of tide,
England! what shall men say of thee,
Before whose feet the worlds divide?

The earth, a brittle globe of glass, 5
Lies in the hollow of thy hand,
And through its heart of crystal pass,
Like shadows through a twilight land,

The spears of crimson-suited war,
The long white-crested waves of fight, 10
And all the deadly fires which are
The torches of the lords of Night.

The yellow leopards, strained and lean,
The treacherous Russian knows so well,
With gaping blackened jaws are seen 15
Leap through the hail of screaming shell.

The strong sea-lion of England’s wars
Hath left his sapphire cave of sea,
To battle with the storm that mars
The star of England’s chivalry. 20

The brazen-throated clarion blows
Across the Pathan’s reedy fen,
And the high steeps of Indian snows
Shake to the tread of armèd men.

And many an Afghan chief, who lies 25
Beneath his cool pomegranate-trees,
Clutches his sword in fierce surmise
When on the mountain-side he sees

The fleet-foot Marri scout, who comes
To tell how he hath heard afar 30
The measured roll of English drums
Beat at the gates of Kandahar.

For southern wind and east wind meet
Where, girt and crowned by sword and fire,
England with bare and bloody feet 35
Climbs the steep road of wide empire.

O lonely Himalayan height,
Grey pillar of the Indian sky,
Where saw’st thou last in clanging fight
Our wingèd dogs of Victory? 40

The almond groves of Samarcand,
Bokhara, where red lilies blow,
And Oxus, by whose yellow sand
The grave white-turbaned merchants go:

And on from thence to Ispahan, 45
The gilded garden of the sun,
Whence the long dusty caravan
Brings cedar and vermilion;

And that dread city of Cabool
Set at the mountain’s scarpèd feet, 50
Whose marble tanks are ever full
With water for the noonday heat:

Where through the narrow straight Bazaar
A little maid Circassian
Is led, a present from the Czar 55
Unto some old and bearded khan,—

Here have our wild war-eagles flown,
And flapped wide wings in fiery fight;
But the sad dove, that sits alone
In England—she hath no delight. 60

In vain the laughing girl will lean
To greet her love with love-lit eyes:
Down in some treacherous black ravine,
Clutching his flag, the dead boy lies.

And many a moon and sun will see 65
The lingering wistful children wait
To climb upon their father’s knee;
And in each house made desolate

Pale women who have lost their lord
Will kiss the relics of the slain— 70
Some tarnished epaulette—some sword—
Poor toys to soothe such anguished pain.

For not in quiet English fields
Are these, our brothers, lain to rest,
Where we might deck their broken shields 75
With all the flowers the dead love best.

For some are by the Delhi walls,
And many in the Afghan land,
And many where the Ganges falls
Through seven mouths of shifting sand. 80

And some in Russian waters lie,
And others in the seas which are
The portals to the East, or by
The wind-swept heights of Trafalgar.

O wandering graves! O restless sleep! 85
O silence of the sunless day!
O still ravine! O stormy deep!
Give up your prey! Give up your prey!

And thou whose wounds are never healed,
Whose weary race is never won, 90
O Cromwell’s England! must thou yield
For every inch of ground a son?

Go! crown with thorns thy gold-crowned head,
Change thy glad song to song of pain;
Wind and wild wave have got thy dead, 95
And will not yield them back again.

Wave and wild wind and foreign shore
Possess the flower of English land—
Lips that thy lips shall kiss no more,
Hands that shall never clasp thy hand. 100

What profit now that we have bound
The whole round world with nets of gold,
If hidden in our heart is found
The care that groweth never old?

What profit that our galleys ride, 105
Pine-forest-like, on every main?
Ruin and wreck are at our side,
Grim warders of the House of pain.

Where are the brave, the strong, the fleet?
Where is our English chivalry? 110
Wild grasses are their burial-sheet,
And sobbing waves their threnody.

O loved ones lying far away,
What word of love can dead lips send!
O wasted dust! O senseless clay! 115
Is this the end! is this the end!

Peace, peace! we wrong the noble dead
To vex their solemn slumber so;
Though childless, and with thorn-crowned head,
Up the steep road must England go, 120

Yet when this fiery web is spun,
Her watchmen shall descry from far
The young Republic like a sun
Rise from these crimson seas of war.

Ave Imperatrix!
Rudyard Kipling
(Written in March 1882)
________________________________________

FROM every quarter of your land
They give God thanks who turned away
Death and the needy madman’s hand,
Death-fraught, which menaced you that day.
One school of many made to make
Men who shall hold it dearest right
To battle for their ruler’s sake,
And stake their being in the fight,
Sends greeting humble and sincere—
Though verse be rude and poor and mean—
To you, the greatest as most dear—
Victoria, by God’s grace Our Queen!
Such greeting as should come from those
Whose fathers faced the Sepoy hordes,
Or served you in the Russian snows,
And, dying, left their sons their swords.
And some of us have fought for you
Already in the Afghan pass—
Or where the scarce-seen smoke-puffs flew
From Boer marksmen in the grass;
And all are bred to do your will
By land and sea—wherever flies
The Flag, to fight and follow still,
And work your Empire’s destinies.
Once more we greet you, though unseen
Our greeting be, and coming slow.
Trust us, if need arise, O Queen,
We shall not tarry with the blow!

Building Bridges: Your Community & Labor Report
National Edition
Produced by Mimi Rosenberg & Ken Nash

*****************

Michael Moore On America’s DNA Of Violence
And What Is To Be Done

Michael Moore, recalling his film Bowling for Columbine, while
advocating for the release of Native America leader, and artist
Leonard Peltier, now falsely imprisoned for 37 years, and in the
wake of the latest horrific gun violence seeks to understand what
he refers to as the “DNA of violence rooted in American history”.

********************

Preventing The 99% From Being Thrown Over The Austerity Cliff
In Fiscal Showdown
with
Robert Borosage, Co-Dir., Campaign for America’s Future

With politicians demanding cuts in public benefits Robert Borosage
counsels against buying into the “fiscal cliff” fraud. Borosage says,
the problem is not deficits; it is "the lack of a foundation for
sustainable growth that includes working people. Without a political
movement to achieve the latter, very little progress will be made on
the former." We must counter the spin and show how we can turn the
conversation about debt and deficits to what really matters: putting
people back to work, protecting the economically vulnerable and
ending giveaways to the wealthy.

********************************

To Download or listen to this 26:02 minute radio program, go to  http://www.buildingbridgesradio.blogspot.com/2012/12/michael-moore-on-americam-violence.html


Building Bridges is regularly broadcast live over WBAI,
99.5 FM in the N.Y.C Metropolitan area on Mondays from
7-8pm EST and is streamed, and archived cast at
www.wbai.org

Building Bridges National Edition is regularly broadcast over:

WAPJ, Torrington, CT.
WOOL, Great Falls, Vermont and New Hampshire
KKRN Bella Vista, CA
KGHI, Westport, WA
KSVR, Mount Vernon, WA
WAZU, Peoria, Illinois
KMEC, Ukiah, CA
KOWA, Olympia Washington .
WHUS, Storrs, CT
WMNF HD FM Tampa, Florida
WPVM - MAIN-FM Asheville, NC
WERU Blue Hill and Bangor, Maine
WGOT - Gainesville, Florida.
WUOW - Oneonta, N.Y.
WWUH, - West Hartford, CT
WVJW- Benwood, WV
KRFP, Moscow, ID
KCSB, Santa Barbara, CA
KSOW,Cottage Grove, Oregon
WKNH ,Keene, NH
CKDU, Halifax, N.S., Canada
WRPI, Troy, New York
WNRB, Wausau, WI
KGIG, Modesta, California
East Hill Radio, Snoqualmie, WA
KSKQ, Ashland, Oregon
KWMD, Kasiloff-Anchorage, Alaska
WPRR, Grand Rapids, Michigan

as well as internet stations:

Channel107, UK
Geneva Radio, Geneva, N.Y.
WTF Radio, Bodega Bay CA
CPR Metro, NYC
Radio Free Radical
Radio Free Kansas
Radio Veronica, West Point, PA
Catalystradio.org, U.K.
WXXE
Seattle Radical Radio
Radio for Peace International
Labourstart
AmericanFM.org
Grateful Dread Public Radio
Detour Network, Knoxville, TN
KDX Radio, Homeland, North American
========================================
For archived Building Bridges Programs go to
our website:
www.buildingbridgesradio.org

Weekly News Update on the Americas
Issue #1157, December 23, 2012

1. Mexico: Analysts Compare Newtown Killings and “Drug War” Deaths
2. Mexico: New Details Emerge on Wal-Mart Bribery Scandal
3. Argentina: Massive Looting Returns After 11 Years
4. Argentina: First Civilian Official Sentenced for “Dirty War” Crimes
5. Puerto Rico: Government and US Agree on Police Reforms
6. Links to alternative sources on: Paraguay, Bolivia, Peru, Ecuador, Venezuela, Honduras, Guatemala, Mexico, Caribbean, Haiti, Dominican Republic, US/policy, US/immigration

ISSN#: 1084 922X. Weekly News Update on the Americas covers news from Latin America and the Caribbean, compiled and written from a progressive perspective. It has been published weekly by the Nicaragua Solidarity Network of Greater New York since 1990. It is archived at  http://weeklynewsupdate.blogspot.com. For a subscription, write to  weeklynewsupdate@gmail.com. Follow us on Twitter at  http://twitter.com/WeeklyNewsUpdat.

*1. Mexico: Analysts Compare Newtown Killings and “Drug War” Deaths
The Mexican media have closely followed the renewed US interest in gun control after the killing of 20 children and eight adults in a Newtown, Connecticut elementary school on Dec. 15. Laws regulating the sale of firearms in the US have an immediate impact on Mexico, where some 50,000 people have been killed since 2006 in the government’s “war on drugs” and in fighting between rival drug cartels. Statistics that the US Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) submitted to the US Senate in 2011 indicate that some 70% of the illegal firearms seized in Mexico in 2009 and 2010 came from the US; Mexico itself has very strict controls on gun ownership [see Update #1083].[...]

Read the full Update:
 http://weeklynewsupdate.blogspot.com/2012/12/wnu-1157-mexicans-compare-newtown-and.html

Also available at:
 http://ww4report.com/