US Reaches $1.25B Settlement with Black Farmers
The Obama administration has reached a $1.25 billion settlement in a class-action lawsuit over longtime racial discrimination against African American farmers. The government settled a first round of claims in 1999 after a group of farmers accused the Agricultural Department of systemically denying them aid and loans granted to white counterparts. The discriminatory policy forced farmers to lose their land or plunged them deeply into debt. The new settlement would cover farmers denied payments under the initial settlement. The deal now awaits congressional approval. John Boyd, a lead plaintiff and head of the National Black Farmers Association, said he agreed to the $1.25 billion settlement despite viewing it as insufficient. Boyd said, ’’Many of the farmers have already died waiting for justice, so I thought this was the right thing to do."


Portland Officer Cleared in Fatal Shooting of Unarmed African American
In Oregon, family members and their supporters are calling for a Justice Department probe into the fatal shooting of an unarmed African American by a Portland police officer last month. The victim, Aaron Campbell, had been distraught over the death of his brother earlier in the day from heart failure. Campbell’s girlfriend had called police to their home, concerned he was suicidal. After a standoff, Campbell emerged with his hands over his head. But a white police officer opened fire, later claiming he thought Campbell was reaching for a weapon. A Portland grand jury cleared the officer of wrongdoing last week. Standing with Campbell’s family, the Reverend Jesse Jackson called the shooting an “execution.”

Rev. Jesse Jackson: “An unarmed man was shot by a high-powered rifle. Worse than pulling the trigger, they let him lay bleeding like a dog, while a dog sniffed his bleeding body, and handcuffed a shot man. That’s beneath the dignity of man. It’s beneath the dignity of Oregonians, of citizens of Portland.”


No Civil Rights Charges in Police Killing of Sean Bell
The Justice Department has announced it won’t bring civil rights charges against any of the police officers who killed the unarmed New York resident Sean Bell in 2006. Bell, an African American, died in a hail of fifty police bullets on the morning of what would have been his wedding day. He was twenty-three years old. The civil rights investigation began after three of the officers were acquitted in a 2008 trial.


La. Jury Acquits White Officers in Killing of 73-Year-Old African American
Meanwhile in Louisiana, the Southern Poverty Law Center has filed a wrongful death lawsuit on behalf of the family of a seventy-three-year-old African American man killed by police in the town of Homer one year ago. Bernard Monroe was shot seven times in his front yard by a white police officer who claimed Monroe was carrying a gun. Several witnesses say Monroe only had a water bottle and accused the officers of placing a gun next to his body. Monroe had been left mute after suffering from throat cancer. Earlier this month, a jury acquitted the officers of Monroe’s murder.


Niger President Overthrown in Military Coup
In Niger, President Mamadou Tandja has been overthrown in a military coup. Tandja sparked political unrest last year after he altered the constitution to allow him to remain in office indefinitely. The African Union has condemned the coup. The soldiers involved say they’re aiming to restore democracy to Niger.


Regulators: Toyota Flaws Linked to Deaths of 34
Federal safety regulators said Monday at least thirty-four people have died over the past ten years due to sudden acceleration problems in Toyota vehicles. Another twenty-two reported injuries from unintended acceleration accidents involving Toyotas. Over the past four months Toyota has recalled over eight-and-a-half million vehicles globally. Clarence Ditlow at the Center for Auto Safety predicted the actual death toll is over 100. Ditlow said, “So many fatalities don’t get attributed to sudden acceleration, especially as you go further back in time before people were paying attention to Toyota.”


The Case for Busting the Filibuster
Senate Republicans are currently using the filibuster to paralyze the Senate and derail Democratic initiatives, according a McClatchy Newspapers investigation. Since President Obama took office, Republican senators have used the filibuster to stall legislation on healthcare reform, global warming, and financial regulation and the confirmation of fifteen Obama nominees. Last week, Senators Jeanne Shaheen and Tom Harkin introduced a bill aimed at curtailing the filibuster. Their proposal would gradually reduce the number of votes required to overcome a filibuster, so a simple majority of fifty-one votes could eventually end debate. But Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid dismissed their efforts, noting that changing the rule would require sixty-seven votes.


Texas IRS Building Attacked in Suicide Flight
Back in the United States, an Internal Revenue Service building was set afire Thursday after a small plane crashed into it in an apparent suicide attack. The pilot of the plane, Joseph Stack, and an unidentified federal employee inside the building were killed. Before flying the plane, Stack set his own home on fire and left behind a rambling suicide note denouncing the IRS and corporate bailouts. In addition to the dead IRS employee, at least thirteen people were wounded, two in critical condition.


Report: Largest Corporations Responsible for $2.2T in Environmental Damage
A newly revealed United Nations study estimates the world’s 3,000 largest corporations are responsible for over $2.2 trillion in environmental damage. The unpublished report was conducted by the Principles for Responsible Investment Initiative and the United Nations Environment Programme. The study says the companies would have to divert one-third of their profits to pay for the environmental damage they’ve caused.


Obama to Back Health Bill through Budget Reconciliation
The Obama administration appears to be backing calls for passing healthcare reform legislation through the congressional process known as budget reconciliation. On Thursday, the White House said it will unveil new healthcare legislation next week that could be attached to a budget bill. That would allow the Senate to approve the legislation with a simple majority instead of the sixty-vote supermajority needed to avoid a Republican filibuster.


Study: Highest Medicaid Enrollment in Decades
In other healthcare news, newly released figures show the recession has led more Americans to enroll in Medicaid than at any point since its establishment over forty years ago. According to the Kaiser Family Foundation, more than three million people signed up for Medicaid in the year ending last June, increasing enrollment 7.5 percent to a record 46.8 million. Thirteen states reported double-digit increases. As enrollment has ballooned, states across the country have tried to cut benefits to keep up with budget constraints. The Kaiser study says twenty-nine states are considering further reductions or have already made them since the current fiscal year began.


Welfare Recipients Forced to Sell Food Stamps to Buy Basic Necessities
The number of Americans receiving food stamps is at an all-time high. Earlier this year the Agricultural Department said one in eight Americans—nearly 38 million people–received food stamps last October. The New York Times reported that about six million Americans receiving food stamps say they have no other income.

A new investigation from Color Lines magazine supported by the Nation Institute’s Investigative Fund shows that some poor families are forced to sell their food stamps on the black market for cash in order to survive this prolonged recession.

When Congress overhauled welfare in 1996, it it created the Temporary Aid to Needy Families or TANF program which placed time limits on aid and made cash assistance contingent on finding a job.


11 Face Arrest for Assassination of Hamas Commander in Dubai
Officials in Dubai say arrest warrants will soon be issued for eleven Europeans suspected of assassinating a top Hamas commander. Mahmoud al-Mabhouh was found dead last month in a hotel in Dubai. Police said the identified suspects include British, Irish, German and French passport holders, but there has been much speculation that the Israeli spy agency Mossad was behind the killing. A police statement said the killers had adopted disguises, including wigs and hats, used an electronic device to enter al-Mabhouh’s hotel room, and lay in wait for him. Police in Dubai have not ruled out Israeli involvement in the killing.


Palestinians Dress as Avatar Na’vi to Protest Israeli Wall
Palestinian activists organized another protest against the West Bank separation wall on Friday. Protesters dressed and painted themselves as the native blue “Na’vi” characters from the Oscar-nominated blockbuster film Avatar. One Palestinian activist said, “We are here Avatars and Na’vis fighting against the sky people who are taking away our land and occupying our people. Here, as opposed to Hollywood, this is real.” The Palestinian activist Ahmad al-Khatib took part in the protest.

Ahmad al-Khatib: “We do not expect that an Israeli court will give us more than what we have got. This is a small achievement and not enough. Today’s idea is to embody the film of Avatar, which is an imaginary film but won the sympathy of millions of people, while what is happening in Bilin and in Palestine is real, as you can see.”


Olympic Resistance: Indigenous Groups, Anti-Poverty Activists, and Civil Liberties Advocates Protest 2010 Winter Games in Vancouver
The 2010 Winter Olympic Games are underway in Vancouver, Canada. The $40 million opening ceremony was held last week, kicking off an event that’s covered the host city in national flags and the logos of the Games’ corporate sponsors. The ceremony was held against the backdrop of tragedy, following the death of a Georgian luge team member during a practice session just hours before.
Unseasonably warm temperatures, meanwhile, are hindering some of the Olympic competition sites. Organizers have been forced to use helicopters and trucks to haul in snow for thinly covered mountains.

Well, our Olympic coverage begins today in the streets of Vancouver, where some say a historic convergence is taking place. Indigenous groups, anti-poverty activists and civil liberties advocates are some of the voices being heard in protest against the Olympic presence. Franklin Lopez of Vancouver’s Media Co-op has been following the Olympic protests. He filed this report.

FRANKLIN LOPEZ: A historic mobilization in Vancouver against the 2010 Winter Olympics has pushed back hard against the International Olympic Committee and the $6 billion sporting event. People of all political persuasions joined together to reject the Olympic industry, holding conferences, marches and carrying out direct actions aimed at undermining the image of the Olympics, an image critics say obscures the negative social and environmental impacts the Games bring with them. The primary slogan of the resistance movement is “No Olympics on stolen Native land,” referring to the immoral and illegal occupation of indigenous lands by settlers.

After years of organizing and mobilization, the anti-Olympics convergence got underway in Vancouver this weekend. Following dozens of protests and disruptions across Canada, the Olympic torch was blocked from passing through Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside. Here’s Melissa Elliot of Six Nations explaining why they blocked the torch.

MELISSA ELLIOT: With these 2010 Olympics, VANOC and the IOC, in partnership with Canada, is trying to create a false illusion. They’re creating a false illusion that Canada is good and has positive relations with our people. But we are here to break this illusion, to tell the truth, by declaring the following. We are not Canadian. We are not a defeated people. This land was never surrendered. Our nations and our people still exist and will continue to exist.

FRANKLIN LOPEZ: Next, residents of Commercial Drive, a historically progressive street, showed their collective resistance to the torch and what it represents.

PROTESTER: The people at Victory Square reportedly chased the torch as it continued to move. It’s on its way here now, or at least it’s on its way down Hastings.

FRANKLIN LOPEZ: Hip-hop artist Testament was present to lend his support.

TESTAMENT: Alright, well, we’re here today, because there’s been a call out by people of this community to stop the torch coming through Commercial Drive. So, many of my friends live in the neighborhood, so it’s a great place. So we want to avoid having the Olympics come through here with their bull [expletive] RBC and their bull [expletive] propaganda, their bull [expletive] Canadian flags. And we want to—you know, we want to reclaim this neighborhood. So, it’s what people are doing. We’re taking the streets. We’re taking this over. We’re blocking the torch. And we’re going to – we’re going to stand here. We’re going to stay here. We’re going to, like, occupy the [expletive] intersections and force them to reroute it.

FRANKLIN LOPEZ: Even the disrupted torch-bearer, Carrie Serwetnyk, could empathize with protesters, whose cause continued to gain support as the Games drew nearer.

CARRIE SERWETNYK: I think it’s great for people to have free speech, and I salute it. Some of my friends are there. But I’m a national team athlete, and—I was. And I’m in love with the Olympics, and I think the spirit has really uplifted our country in a better way than just complaining.

FRANKLIN LOPEZ: The torchbearer was loaded into a police car, a fitting symbol of the $1 billion spent on police, military and private security during the Olympic Games.

PROTESTERS: Hey, hey, hey, goodbye! Call and response! Call and response! Repeat after me! Repeat after me! What are we resisting? What are we resisting? Stolen Native land! Stolen Native land!

FRANKLIN LOPEZ: The main event of the day was a family-friendly rally and march titled Take Back Our City, organized by a coalition of groups called the 2010 Welcoming Committee. The evening brought out at least 3,000 protesters representing activists of all stripes, including indigenous sovereigntists and supporters, migrant justice and environmental justice groups, anti-poverty groups, queer rights organizations, and more. Harjap Grewal of the Olympic Resistance Network commented on the success of the mobilization.

HARJAP GREWAL: But we know the Olympics suck. What’s more important is this resistance. What’s more important is, is that I’m absolutely ecstatic that all of us today are going to take to the streets and give them a hit like they’ve never had before. The IOC didn’t know what was coming, but we’re here now, and let’s party!

GARTH MULLINS: Well, we’re going to take to the streets today. We’re going to do this because people said we couldn’t do it. People said you couldn’t have an amplified voice, like this one. People said you couldn’t have protest signs, like these ones. And people said you couldn’t go outside of a designated protest area. Well, the world is my designated protest area!

FRANKLIN LOPEZ: That was Garth Mullins, an anti-Olympic organizer from Vancouver. As darkness fell, demonstrators marched towards BC Place, where the opening ceremonies for the Games were taking place.

On Saturday morning, anti-capitalist activists took Georgia Street in downtown Vancouver in an action designed to block Olympic traffic from Vancouver to the resort town of Whistler. The action was billed as a heart attack, set to clog the arteries of capitalism. A brass band accompanied marchers who carried banners, shouted slogans, and advanced through the streets of downtown.


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