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The New Print Edition of CounterPunch, Only for Our Newsletter Subscribers! How Cops Extort Confessions;
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The New Print Edition of CounterPunch, Only for Our Newsletter Subscribers!
How Cops Extort Confessions;
How the U.S. “Justice System” Really WorksNinety-two per cent of felony convictions in the U.S. are obtained by plea bargains or confessions. Without them the “justice system” would grind to a halt. In an important piece in our latest newsletter, available only to subscribers, Emily Horowitz shows how totally innocent people will “confess” under police pressure, even without physical torture. Horowitz outlines the powerful case for banning confessions altogether. Also in this new edition Marcus Rediker, co-author of the legendary The Many Headed Hydra, writes of popular heroism and resistance in the favelas of Medellin, Colombia. Alexander Cockburn reports on how America’s oldest bank, patronized by the global elites, washed billions smuggled out of Russia, and how the Russians might win their money back, shaking the world’s banking system if they do so. Serge Halimi describes the real battle for the soul of Europe. 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.
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Today's Stories August 18, 2008 Tariq Ali August 16 / 17, 2008 Alexander Cockburn Jeffrey St. Clair Deepak Tripathi Conn Hallinan Mike Whitney Robert Fantina Ray McGovern Nicole Colson Fatima Bhutto Jean-Luis Rocca David Michael Green Ramzi Kysia Dave Lindorff Lisa Martinovic Richard Rhames Don Santina Rannie Amiri Ramzy Baroud John Stanton Howard Lisnoff Ron Jacobs Seth Sandronsky Poets' Basement Website of the Weekend
August 15, 2008 Steve Niva David Remington Michael Winship Paul Craig Roberts Farzana Versey Harvey Wasserman Felice Pace Julian Critchley Website of the Day August 14, 2008 Saul Landau / Conn Hallinan Mike Whitney Reza Fiyouzat Ralph Nader Christopher Brauchli The Cheerleader in China Jack Bradigan Spula Patrick Irelan John Walsh Dan Bacher Website of the Day
August 13, 2008 Paul Craig Roberts David Remington Brian Cloughley Glen Ford Brendan Cooney Dave Lindorff Tom Lewis Stan Cox Alan Farago Martha Rosenberg Website of the Day August 12, 2008 Uri Avnery Anthony DiMaggio Bill Christison Eric Walberg Kate Connolly Diane Farsetta Peter Morici Thom Rutledge Lee Patton Niranjan Ramakrishnan Website of the Day August 11, 2008 Ishmael Reed Paul Craig Roberts Gary Leupp Douglas Kammen William Willers Greg Moses Jeff Leys Cynthia McKinney Alan Farago Website of the Day August 9 / 10, 2008 Alexander Cockburn Jeffrey St. Clair Bruce Jackson Kevin Young Chris Floyd Joshua Frank Robert Fantina Brendan Cooney Mark Almond Lois Gibbs Rev. William Alberts Kathy Kelly John Ross David Michael Green Bill Moyers / Ron Jacobs Richard Rhames David Yearsley Lee Sustar Brenda Norrell Ben Terrall Poets' Basement Website of the Weekend August 8, 2008 Patrick Cockburn Manuel Garcia, Jr. M. Shahid Alam Andy Worthington Lawrence J. Korb David Model Alan Farago Diop Olugbala Firmin DeBrabander Website of the Day August 7, 2008 Dr. Trudy Bond William Blum Paul Craig Roberts Ralph Nader Robert Weitzel Jacob G. Hornberger Binoy Kampmark David Macaray Howard Lisnoff Website of the Day August 6, 2008 Marc Herold Greg Moses Sheldon Rampton Kevin Young Michael Estrada Robert Weissman Dr. Susan Block Cindy Sheehan Ace Hoffman Website of the Day August 5, 2008 Paul Craig Roberts Jeff Halper Patrick Cockburn Nancy Welch Peter Morici Sousan Hammad Eamon Martin Shepherd Bliss Tim Matson Website of the Day August 4, 2008 Uri Avnery Saul Landau David W. Remington Rev. Jesse Jackson Dave Lindorff Peter Morici Joanne Mariner Ramzy Baroud Christian Wright Website of the Day August 2 / 3, 2008 Alexander Cockburn Jeffrey St. Clair Patrick Cockburn Winslow T. Wheeler James Abourezk Andy Worthington Brian Cloughley Robert Fantina Benjamin Dangl Marlene Martin David Yearsley Fatemeh Keshavarz David Michael Green Obama as Dukakis Harvey Wasserman Jason Hribal Phyllis Pollack Laray Polk Ron Jacobs David Macaray David Rosen Dan Bacher Joe Allen Poets' Basement Website of the Weekend August 1, 2008 Jonathan Cook Nikolas Kozloff Rannie Amiri Peter Morici Christopher Brauchli M. K. Bhadrakumar Patrick Cockburn James J. Brittain Dan Bacher Website of the Day
July 31, 2008 Michael Hudson Carl Finamore Mike Whitney Joshua Frank Andy Worthington Ralph Nader Bill Moyers / Robert Weissman Dave Lindorff Website of the Day July 30, 2008 Brian M. Downing Chuck Spinney William S. Lind David Ker Thomson Karl Grossman Mike Whitney Martha Rosenberg James Murren Dave Lindorff Ron Jacobs Website of the Day July 29, 2008 Jeffrey St. Clair John Ross Peter Morici Alison Weir Gary Leupp David Macaray Brenda Norrell Marjorie Cohn Eric Ruder Website of the Day July 28, 2008 Dr. Bryant Welch Kathy Kelly Mike Whitney Peter Morici Christopher Brauchli Clifton Ross Stephen Lendman Website of the Day
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August 18, 2008 An Alternative to Gang InjunctionsThe Power of Art and Youth in LABy LUIS RODRIGUEZ This past Saturday, August 16, Luis Villanueva, a high school student, and the Los Angeles Mural Experiment, an art group he started, had a mural inauguration at Dyer Street Elementary School in the community of Sylmar in the Northeast San Fernando Valley. This mural project is sponsored by the Young Warriors, the arts-based youth empowerment wing of Tia Chucha's Centro Cultural, founded by Mayra Zaragoza and Brian Dessaint. I was also able to speak to the various young artists involved--around 20--as well as their parents, school officials, and others who gathered that beautiful August day to honor the artistic resource we have in our young people. Tia Chucha's and Young Warriors continue to involve youth, including graffiti artists, in creating artistic works that the community can appreciate, value, and support. The mural encompassed various animals from the deserts and jungles of northern Africa, such as giraffes, tigers and elephants. It was beautifully done for the elementary school students and the surrounding community. Food was then provided for the guests that numbered around 100 people. Luis proved to be an amazing organizer by planning, mobilizing, and inaugurating this project in less than a month's time. Unfortunately, this community is under a gang injunction zone approved by the courts against the so-called San Fer gang. This has caused many young people to be arbitrarily stopped and searched. Those served under the injunction cannot associate with other alleged gang members, and they are under a strict curfew. If they are seen with two or more people, they can be arrested and the people who they are with can also be served, even if they aren't in a gang. This is not even done in some of the most repressive countries in the world. The target of California's gang injunctions, started in LA in the late 1980s, are black and brown alleged gang members (no white or asian gangs have ever been placed under a gang injunction to date). In LA alone there are more than 20 gang injunctions, including the most recent in the Sylmar/San Fernando area (this is also where I live). It's now the largest gang injunction area in the city. Still Tia Chucha's/Young Warriors, in collaboration with organizations like the LA Mural Experiment, will keep providing meaningful, healthy, imaginative, and community-based options to the most troubled and neglected young people. Gang injunctions are not the answer and never have been. Two weeks before, I had more than 30 young people, most of them hard-core gang members trying to change their lives, come to San Fernando's Sweat Lodge, located behind a sober-living home. I'm one of the founders and one of the facilitators/water pourers (my wife Trini is another one). They came from Homeboy Industries in downtown LA as well as from Watts (thanks to the efforts of Fidel Rodriguez and Adrian Veliz). Many of the young men and women were heavily tattooed. At one point some of the guys shared the various bullet wounds and scars on their bodies. They were mostly Mexican males, but also included a few African Americans and women. The ceremony was taken seriously, but it was a battle for these young people, most of whom had never been in a sweat ceremony. There was lots of moans, loud prayers, tears, and more as we connected the intensity of the lodge to the intensity and pains of their lives. At one point about nine young people left the lodge in-between rounds. But just before the last round, Hector, a member of our sweat lodge circle who also pours water, sings and plays drums, kept a strong solid beat that helped calm all the participants. I said words of knowledge and prayer over the drum beat to keep the group from fracturing and losing focus. The nine people outside, gathered around to hear and listen and learn. In the last round, they all came back to take part. It was an amazing ceremony, although it was extremely hard. It was a battle, but the ceremony is meant to symbolize the battle of our life. With much respect, courage, and struggle, these young people fought to be present and to come back. Those that stayed all the way through were the stronger for it. Getting shot, having friends and family killed (one young girl's mother was recently found murdered in an alley with no idea so far about who did this), being on drugs (in particular crystal meth), just out of jail (a few of the participants had just been released from prison), now found an intense healing and purification space, run by community for community. Tomorrow, August 18, I go to the Mosaic Multicultural Foundation's Men's Conference called "Holding the Thread of Life," a mentoring retreat with Michael Meade, Jack Cornfield, Orland Bishop and myself as teachers. We'll be in the Redwood Forest surrounding Mendocino, CA. I've been doing these with Mosaic now for more than 15 years. This coming week -- it lasts about six days -- we'll have mentors, mentees, therapists, teachers, organizers, as well as gang youth and other young people. Homeboy Industries, Youth Mentoring Connection, Street Poets, Tia Chucha's are some of the organizations bringing youth. There are way to help gangs, those on drugs, and the most abused and neglected young people. Prisons, juvenile halls and jails only deliver these youth to the mouth of the lion. We can do lasting and vital inner-core work with these young people, but we are often lacking as a society the political will, funds, other resources, and the community awareness to do so. We'll do it anyway, but many more youth are being pushed into the web of the prison/criminal world (at taxpayers' expense). I will do my part to help change the culture in this country about how best to deal with troubled young people, and our fractured communities. The mural project, the sweat lodge, the men's conferences, Tia Chucha's arts programming, and organizations like Homeboy Industries and the Mosaic Foundation are all part of the change that brings lasting and long-range healing, peace, and health to all our communities. We will maintain ourselves as the example while we continue to fight against the laws, injunctions and upcoming propositions like Proposition 6--the Runner Initiative--that will do more to harm our youth in the poorest communities than any such proposition to date (and California has had some doozies). Luis Rodriguez is a co-founder of Rock A Mole Productions and a contributing editor at Rock & Rap Confidential . He is the author of several books, including Always Running: Mi Vida Loca--Gang Days in LA, The Republic of East LA and the novel Music of the Mill published by Rayo/Harper Collins. For more information about his cultural center in LA, visit tiachucha.com. For more on his writing and activism, visit his blog.
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