Down with "Don't Ask, Don't Tell"! Defend LGBT Rights!

A freshman in the Naval ROTC at George Washington University named Todd Belok has been dismissed from the program for homosexuality. Read more about his story in the student newspaper.

Michael Komo, the president of Allied in Pride at GW, issued the following state via a Facebook group:

We can no longer sit by and watch it tear apart the lives of our friends, family members, and classmates. We must take action now. We are organizing a protest that will be inclusive of all colleges in D.C. Our "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" protest will take place on Saturday, February 28, starting at 1:00 p.m. We will be meeting in Kogan Plaza. It is located on H Street in between 21st Street and 22nd Street. We need your help to make this as successful as possible. Some of the organizations that will be participating in the event at GW include Allied in Pride, College Democrats, Black Student Union, Remix, Jewish Progressive Association, and many more. If you would like to be a part of our movement, please let me know via e-mail (michaelrkomo@gmail.com). Please feel free to spread the word to any and all organizations at your school or any other school in D.C. you think would like to participate.

The International Socialist Organization opposes all forms of oppression, including "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" homophobia. We everyone who can will turn out to support this protest.

New Issue of International Socialist Review

The March/April issue of the International Socialist Review is back from the printers and should be available in bookstores -- and from ISO members -- before long.

For now, its table of contents as well as a couple of article can be read online.

The Onion: "Nation Instinctively Forms Breadline"

NEW YORK—Drawn by a strange force they could neither resist nor describe, millions of Americans reportedly dropped what they were doing Tuesday and, acting as if by instinct alone, gathered into one massive nationwide breadline.

According to witnesses, citizens across the country exited their homes in near unison, leaving behind growing stacks of bills, empty kitchen cupboards, and what was once a life of comfort to form the spontaneous, 2,000-mile-long queue.

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Time for Radical Change

Join us for a discussion of the new political period opening up in the United States and the world.



Time: 7 pm on Thursday, February 26
Place: Sankofa Books, 2714 Georgia Ave. NW

For more information, write iso_district@yahoo.com or call 202-903-6906

Fighting Back

The mayor of Lansing, Michigan won't put up with anti-worker questions about the auto industry from a Fox News anchorman:



Towards the end, some protectionist thinking starts to come out -- such is the reality of uneven class consciousness. But how often do you hear someone defending the working class on TV in such a combative way?

Read more about it here.

The Battle of NYU

Meanwhile, back in New York....



Today New York University has shown its true face more than ever. Claiming to be a "private university in the public service," it is clearly not even in the service of those students whose tuitions allow it to exist.

Earlier today, NYU cut power to all outlets in the occupied space and turned off the wireless internet. Obviously this was an attempt to silence and intimidate the occupiers who have broad-based support.

Then, NYU said it would negotiate and instead detained and suspended the student negotiators when they showed up. Security has now broken through the barricade and people are being detained and suspended.

Instead of dialog and negotiation, the NYU administration has shown they prefer the authoritarian, dissent-quashing, dictator route. It is a true reflection of how they run their university. Nothing but thugs with suits on, interested in getting rich under the guise of "education."

Be prepared to defend any individual or group that is targeted academically or legally for their role in the occupation. Widespread support for the occupation and its demands will not be extinguished by NYU's hypocritical, tyrannical behavior.

Email NYU Administrators. Demand amnesty and no suspensions:

NYU President John Sexton: john.sexton@nyu.edu

John Beckman, NYU Spokesperson: jhb5@nyu.edu

Office of the Provost: provost@nyu.edu

Office of the Vice President: evp@nyu.edu

Here is John Sexton, NYU President, so people can call as well as email:
(212) 998-2345

See also the Take Back NYU blog

Voices of Resistance: Standing Up To Injustice and War

Spread the word: Four appearances in the DC area in March by Laila Al-Arian and Dave Zirin speaking out against the "War on Terror"

LAILA AL-ARIAN is the daughter of Palestinian political prisoner Dr. Sami al-Arian. Laila has been a tireless advocate for the case of her father who was politically targeted by the U.S. government in its post-9/11 domestic witch-hunt; he has been imprisoned since February 2003 on baseless, trumped-up federal charges. Laila is also a writer and producer for Al-Jazeera English and a contributor to The Nation magazine. She has written extensively on the Middle East and Palestinian resistance to occupation. Her work has appeared in The Independent, The Guardian, Alternet and Washington Report on Middle East Affairs, among other publications. She is the coauthor of the recent book, Collateral Damage: America's War Against Iraqi Civilians.

DAVE ZIRIN is a prominent political sportswriter for The Nation and author of A People's History of Sports. Dave is an author with Haymarket Books and a contributor to the International Socialist Review. Analyzing the convergence of sports and politics, Dave is also a columnist for SLAM Magazine, The Progressive and is an op-ed writer for the Los Angeles Times. It was recently revealed that Dave was one of many social justice activists illegally spied on by the Maryland State Police for speaking out against the war and against the death penalty.


LOCAL TOUR STOPS:

• March 2: George Washington University, Marvin Center Grand Ballroom at 8pm (Endorsed by Students for Justice in Palestine, and the Arab Students Association)

• March 4: University of Maryland, College Park, Woods Hall 1130 at 7pm

• March 17: Georgetown University at 7:30pm (Location TBA) (Endorsed by Students for Justice in Palestine)

• March 26: Sankofa Books at 7pm

LGBT Group Tagged as "Terrorist"

Equality Maryland, the state's largest gay civil rights group, was revealed this week to be among the many peaceful protest groups that were once designated a "security threat" by state officials.

The Washington Post reported Friday that the Maryland State Police's Homeland Security & Intelligence Division gave Equality Maryland the designation and considered the organization a terrorist group. The designation has since been rescinded.

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In the Ditch

A radio commentary by Doug Henwood, editor of Left Business Observer:

Quite a spectacle in Congress on Wednesday, wasn’t it? Watching the assembled CEOs of our biggest banks testifying really put all our pathologies on display. On one side of the table, the bankers looked like dim and evasive hacks—it was easy to see how they drove their vehicles into the ditch. But on the other side of the table, many of the Congresspeople looked like preening and devious hacks. Where were they while the bankers were driving the vehicles into the ditch? And what really do they presume to do about all this? Nationalize the banks? Ha....

Here's the whole thing. See in particular his concluding lines:

An old-style Labour MP is said to have complained to [Tony] Blair about all the right-wing things he had to say to get elected. Blair’s response: “It’s much worse than that. I really believe it.” The same for Obama, I’m afraid. The combination of an economy stuck in the mud and an aroused populace could change that. But not yet.

Coverage of UDC Protest

See also WJLA's story

Socialist Worker article on UDC here

UPDATE: Article in The Washington Informer