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Calling All CounterPunchers!
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Today's Stories November 14 / 16, 2008 Sasan Fayazmanesh Jean Bricmont Sheldon Rampton Douglas Valentine Sherry Wolf Peter Cervantes-Gautschi Jacob Hornberger Lance Selfa
November 13, 2008 Pam Martens Vijay Prashad Patrick Cockburn Jonathan Cook Ralph Nader Bill Quigley Lee Sustar Omar Barghouti Steve Conn Howard Lisnoff Jeff Cohen Website of the Day November 12, 2008 Johanna Berrigan Steve Conn Patrick Bond Bokar Ture / Alan Farago Dave Lindorff Karl Grossman David Macaray George Wuerthner Susie Day Website of the Day November 11, 2008 James G. Abourezk Allan J. Lichtman Eric Toussaint Ron Jacobs Peter Montague Corporate Crime Reporter Laura Carlsen Col. Dan Smith Morton Skorodin David Michael Green Charles R. Larson Website of the Day November 10, 2008 David Roediger Paul Craig Roberts Peter Lee Corey D. B. Walker Jeff Halper Bill Hatch Andy Worthington Bill Quigley Peter Morici Anthony Olszewski Kim Nicolini Cpt. Paul Watson Website of the Day November 7 / 9, 2008 Alexander Cockburn Jeffrey St. Clair Vijay Prashad Tariq Ali Jean Bricmont John V. Whitbeck Saul Landau Peter Morici Lawrence Velvel Karyn Strickler Nativo V. Lopez Christopher Fons Alan Farago David Yearsley Christopher Brauchli Samah Sabawi Dave Lindorff Deepak Tripathi Beth Sherouse Patrick Irelan Stephen Martin Richard Rhames J. Murray Lorenzo Wolff Kim Nicolini Poets' Basement Website of the Day
November 6, 2008 Frank J. Menetrez John Chuckman P. Sainath Joshua Frank Edna Canetti John Ross Norman Solomon Fawzia Afzal-Khan Robert Weissman Harvey Wasserman Website of the Day
November 5, 2008 Cockburn / St. Clair Chuck Spinney Ishmael Reed Chris Floyd Binoy Kampmark Michael Donnelly David Macaray Peter Morici Manuel Garcia, Jr. William Willers Website of the Day November 4, 2008 Kathleen Christison James Ridgeway Winslow T. Wheeler Mike Whitney Conn Hallinan Holly M. Barker Ashley Smith Andy Worthington Martha Rosenberg Stephen Martin Doug Lummis Carlos Fierro Website of the Day November 3, 2008 Patrick Cockburn John Kennedy O'Hara Peter Montague Steve Conn Andrew Gebhardt Ron Jacobs Ralph Nader Niranjan Ramakrishnan Uri Avnery Dave Lindorff Fred Gardner DC Larson David Michael Green Val Strange Tuli Kupferberg / Website of the Day
October 31 , 2008 Alexander Cockburn Jeffrey St. Clair Douglas Valentine Ismael Hossein-Zadeh Dr. Ignacy Nowopolski Alan Maass William P. O’Connor Patrick Irelan Brian Cloughley Mats Svensson Binoy Kampmark Steve Conn Alan Farago Morton Skorodin Robert Bryce Wajahat Ali David Yearsley Dennis Loo Pam Martens Stephen Martin Richard Rhames Ramzy Baroud Missy Beattie Howard Lisnoff Richard Neville Saul Landau / Kim Nicolini Lorenzo Wolff Poets' Basement Website of the Weekend October 30, 2008 Cockburn / St. Clair Vijay Prashad Paul Craig Roberts Glen Ford Stanley Heller William Loren Katz Joshua Frank James McEnteer Felice Pace Jonathan Cook Reza Fiyouzat Website of the Day
October 29, 2008 Arno J. Mayer Eric Toussaint Matt Gonzalez Steven Conn Jonathan Cook Patrick Bond Ramzi Kysia Douglas Valentine Stephen Martin Margaret Dooley-Sammuli Amee Chew Website of the Day
October 28, 2008 James G. Abourezk Andy Worthington Gary Leupp Paul Craig Roberts Mike Whitney Gregory V. Button Ralph Nader P. Sainath Martha Rosenberg Charles R. Larson Website of the Day October 27, 2008 Michael Hudson Barbara Rose Johnston John Dinges Mike Whitney Mary Lynn Cramer Greenspan's Higher Power Alan Farago David Michael Green Andy Worthington George Wuerthner Niranjan Ramakrishnan Website of the Day October 24 / 26, 2008 Alexander Cockburn Ishmael Reed Mike Whitney Don Santina Scott Boehm Saul Landau Ron Jacobs Binoy Kampmark Linn Washington Jr. Nicole Colson Bernard Chazelle Brian Jones Christopher Brauchli Benjamin Dangl Val Strange Steve Early David Macaray Allison Kilkenny Richard Rhames Jim Bell Kris De Welde Barry Clemson Adam Engel Mark Scaramella Tuli Kupferberg Lorenzo Wolff Poets' Basement Website of the Weekend October 23, 2008 Allan J. Lichtman Todd Chretien John Ross Peter Morici Mats Svensson Marlene Martin Robert Jensen / Margaret Kimberley Deepak Tripathi David Morris Website of the Day October 22, 2008 Brian Cloughley Heather Gray Jeff Birkenstein Ralph Nader DC Larson David Swanson Keeanga-Yamatta Taylor Race and the Election: When the "Real" America Enters the Voting Booth Larry Everest Robert Fantina Martha Rosenberg Stephen Martin Website of the Day October 21, 2008 Vijay Prashad Paul Craig Roberts Corey D. B. Walker Steve Breyman Eric Toussaint Wajahat Ali Robert Weitzel Brendan Cooney Dave Lindorff Marqueece Harris-Dawson / Bob Wing Patrick B. Barr Omar Barghouti Website of the Day October 20, 2008 Michael Hudson Anthony DiMaggio Tariq Ali Uri Avnery Bill Quigley Ben Rosenfeld David Michael Green William S. Lind Chris Genovali Stephen Martin Howard Lisnoff David Yearsley Website of the Day October 17 / 19, 2008 Alexander Cockburn Jeffrey St. Clair Pam Martens Paul Craig Roberts Mike Whtney Michael D. Yates Suzanne Smith Carl Boggs Ralph Nader Fidel Castro Dave Marsh Saul Landau Jo Guldi Kevin Zeese Larry Everest Steve Early David Macaray Ben Terrall Missy Beattie Don Monkerud Helen Redmond Dan Bacher Wajahat Ali Farzana Versey Vladimir Frolov Kim Nicolini Poets Basement Website of the Day
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Weekend Edition Those Times Are Gone...Palling Around with Ray the PlumberBy RICHARD RHAMES
Flushed with contradictions, American society has a new political leader. It was a squalid campaign, conducted against the backdrop of two wars of aggression, continuing military attacks against other sovereign nation-states, and the systematic looting of banks and other financial institutions by a criminal cabal of crony capitalists. Few, if any of the brutish sociopaths responsible for these vast debaucheries will ever be prosecuted for their greedy and blood-soaked work. Some may even be given coveted spots in a new and bipartisan administration. One of the more laughable themes of the campaign featured “Joe The (alleged) Plumber,” a pipewrencher and would-be plumbing business owner. Candidate McCain trotted out JTP repeatedly as an example of someone from the working class who might get their taxes raised by candidate Obama --- if that is, JTP were able to buy a plumbing company and start pulling down more than $250,000 each year. The press showered its attention on “Joe” ---actually Samuel Joseph Wurzelbacher --- who characterized Obama’s simpering income tax proposal as lurching “one step closer to socialism.” The AP reported that JTP actually didn’t have a plumber’s license and, though he’d worked for Toledo’s Newell Plumbing and Heating for 6 years, still hadn’t completed an apprentice training program he’d started in 2003. The JTP boomlet spawned national TV appearances and a move by College Republicans and others to draft Wurzlebacher to run against Democrat Marcy Kaptur in Ohio’s 9th congressional district next time. He’s reputedly “up for it.” The pathetic irony of it all got me thinking about a soft-spoken guy I met back in 2004, a year after Joe started his leisurely apprenticeship. Ray Luc Levasseur had just been released from federal prison and returned to Maine. For 20 years he’d been subject to routinized solitary confinement, torture, and assorted other bestialities later exported and made infamous at Abu Ghraib/ Gitmo. I remembered “Luc Levasseur” from his 70s era photo on (my hometown) Biddeford’s post office wall. He was a wanted man in those days --- officially “Most Wanted.” For years he lived underground and functioned as a member of the United Freedom Front, an armed wing in the diffuse popular struggle against America’s collaboration with African apartheid and this nation’s routine imperial plunder. As he would remind people, Nelson Manilla also spent many years behind bars as leader of the ANC’s armed wing. But upon release, Ray’s and Nelson’s prospects differed greatly. Ray grew up in Sanford, briefly worked in the mills like his parents and grandparents, and wound up in Vietnam after, as he pointed out later, being trained to kill by the US government. What he saw in Vietnam gave his life focus. Returning Stateside and organizing for societal change he could believe in, he ran afoul of the law and was sent to prison. Later, back in Maine, he helped run a Portland book store (Red Star North) and did prisoner solidarity work (S.C.A.R.). He and his cohorts attracted massive heat from the local police and its paramilitary element. The man that Portland Police Chief, Mike Chitwood described as “truly a revolutionary” went underground with his wife, family, and friends. Through the 1970s, the United Freedom Front was charged with destruction of corporate and government property. In November 1984, Ray, his wife, and other members of the UFF, then referred to as the Ohio 7, were arrested and, in time, convicted on conspiracy charges. Released in 2004, Ray needed a job. He got work with Master Plumber Barbara West. But in Maine (apparently unlike Ohio), to work in this trade and make $11 an hour, he needed a “plumber’s trainee license.” He applied and was rejected. He appealed to fellow plumbers on the state’s Plumbers’ Examining Board. Maine Public Radio’s Susan Sharon reported the proceedings as Ray and his attorney Jim Buschell argued their case in April, 2005. Jim Buschell : "April 29, 1986 Mr. Levasseur was convicted of several federal offenses all of which involved damage to property. These were not offenses in which anyone was even killed or even harmed in any way." Buschell went on to say that Levasseur had been a model inmate, had received dozens of letters of support during his lengthy parole hearings and was determined not to jeopardize public welfare or likely to promote disrespect for the law. Buschell says even Levasseur's probation office has found him to be motivated and law abiding...compliant with all terms of his supervised release. Despite these findings, Assistant Attorney General Dennis Smith argued that a person like Levasseur may need a longer track record to prove he is rehabilitated...even though there is no definition of rehabilitation in Maine statute. Smith is the legal advisor to the Plumbers' Examining Board. Dennis Smith: "I'm trying to figure out how long Mr. Levasseur has actually been legitimately in society...understand what I'm saying? Out and about in society on a legitimate basis...so....so I want to explore that.” (Levasseur interrupts..."I can answer that: 58 years! I'm not illegitimate!) Assistant Attorney General Smith continued to spar with Ray Levasseur...at one point calling him a "domestic terrorist" and Ray Levasseur: "I admit to violating the law but in all honesty I can't tell you that I feel that I'm a criminal. I'm not a thief. I'm not a robber. I'm not an arsonist. A rapist. I'm not gonna break into your house...and just as importantly I've never done anything out of greed or for personal gain. My intent was to expose the criminal conduct of others." Speaking on behalf of Levasseur...Master Plumber Barbara West said he was a good employee...thorough, careful and kind and respectful to her and her clients. But attorney Smith wanted to know whether she shared Levasseur's political views. Dennis Smith: "His position I think, still to this day, is that he's a political prisoner, that he hasn't committed a crime. If she's of a like mind and she's here to support his rehabilitation I'm going to argue that because of their, I guess, like mindedness, this person might be biased as to whether this person is rehabilitated...why isn't that appropriate?" Barbara West: "I don't have opinions about his life or his convictions. I have opinions about whether he's an effective plumber. If he were convicted of breaking and entering, for example, I don't think he should go into people's houses. If he were convicted as a child molester, I don't think he should work in houses with small children...” Dennis Smith: "Well, she didn't answer the question but I'll certainly take that as her answer." The Plumbers' Examining Board is made up of five members...four with plumbing experience. Their proceedings aren't normally monitored by police officers or covered by the media. And they don't normally hear from people like Ray Levasseur...a man, who at one time, was on the FBI's most wanted list. Percy Brown, Jr. the board's chair, GRILLED LEVASSEUR ON HIS PAST. Percy Brown: "When you look back on this, do you feel that you would have done it differently? Would you have done these bombings?" Ray Levasseur : "Looking back at everything that was involved...having gone through that entire course of action and made the sacrifice...then I wouldn't do it again. And I can also say I wouldn't go back to Viet Nam again too." Levasseur EXPLAINED TO THE BOARD THAT he was born and raised in Sanford, dropped out of high school to work in the mills...where his parents and grandparents worked before him. He said the low pay and the exploitive conditions helped shape his politics. And he said he wants to be a plumber because it's a skilled trade that he likes..and that puts him on course for a normal life. In the end, the board accepted the motion of Master Plumber John Tyler by a vote of three to one. John Tyler: "I fully feel that he has been rehabilitated. I have a daughter graduating from liberal college and you ought to hear her talk about the country. But you know there are different ways to get your political views out there. He chose his. I think that we consider the time, age and all the factors. I think we should grant his training license with the supervision testified to." Ray Levasseur says the board's decision has helped restore his faith in humanity. He went back to work as a plumber this morning. Assistant Attorney General Dennis Smith says he will not appeal the board's decision. Ray Levasseur lives in Maine today, and struggles with others on behalf of political prisoners and for national liberation. Sadly, (unlike JTP) he is unlikely to run for congress. He still disdains the criminal element. (Thanks to Susan Sharon) Richard Rhames is a dirt-farmer in Biddeford, Maine (just north of the Kennebunkport town line).
New in the Print Edition of CounterPunch For his 20-year stretch as Fed chairman, they all fawned on him – presidents, Congress, the press. Only a handful of left economists said he was pushing the economy over the cliff. Now Greenspan admits it in a humiliating confession. As the world’s financial structure tumbles in ruins, guess what? “I found a flaw in the model… To the extent that I figure out where it happened and why, I will change my views.” Read Frederic Claremont’s savage assessment of the fool who has plunged millions into misery. Also in our new issue: Bill Hatch on the story of one foreclosure; Kristian Williams on police torture in Chicago. Only in CounterPunch newsletter! Get your copy today by subscribing online or calling 1-800-840-3683 Contributions to CounterPunch are tax-deductible. Click here to make a donation. If you find our site useful please: Subscribe Now! CounterPunch books and gear make great presents. Order CounterPunch By Email For Only $35 a Year !
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New in the CP Print Edition! For his 20-year stretch as Fed chairman, they all fawned on him – presidents, Congress, the press. Only a handful of left economists said he was pushing the economy over the cliff. Now Greenspan admits it in a humiliating confession. As the world’s financial structure tumbles in ruins, guess what? “I found a flaw in the model… To the extent that I figure out where it happened and why, I will change my views.” Read Frederic Claremont’s savage assessment of the fool who has plunged millions into misery. Also in our new issue: Bill Hatch on the story of one foreclosure; and Kristian Williams on police torture in Chicago. Only in CounterPunch newsletter! Get your copy today by subscribing online or calling 1-800-840-3683 Now Available from CounterPunch Books! Waiting for Lightning
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