Thursday, May 05, 2005

Arkansas IMC on attacks and Fayetteville fights the Patriot Act; plus Janeane Garofalo highlights Bright Eyes for getting a protest song on network TV

Colorado IMC is still down. As members may remember, Arkansas IMC was also attacked but it was back up last week. This week, they have a note, on their home page, that we'll reprint in full because I really think these sort of attacks are shameful.

May 4:
As of today (Wednesday) we at Arkansas Indymedia are still having problems due to the damage inflicted by last week's hacking of our and many Indymedia websites. Perhaps the most obvious to the reader or contributor is that articles or comments will not be posted right away. Due to the damage done to our data base, editors must now search for posted material and put it on the site manually. This is a process which, for obvious reasons, will take some time. Rest assured however, that your contribution will eventually find itself in our newswire or in the comments section below the selected article.
While we hope to get these problems worked out soon, there is currently no realistic time frame in which we can eliminate these problems. We apologize for the inconvenience and ask that you bear with us while we work through this temporary situation.
Arkansas IMC


Again, the attacks on IMC are disgusting and we can show our support in a variety of ways. You can give money, you can become active in your local IMC (in some areas, that may mean supporting your state IMC but many have regional chapters as well), you can visit IMC sites and utilize them, you can pass them on to friends via e-mail or pulling friends over to your monitor.
But this is our media, the people's media, and if we don't find a way to support it, we may end up without having any.

Also from Arkansas IMC, Patriots for Civil Liberties have "Fayetteville Group Seeks To Pass City Resolution Against the Patriot Act:"

Patriots for Civil Liberties is a citizens organization working to ensure the United States Constitution is maintained as Fayetteville's basis in law. Patriots for Civil Liberties has written a resolution condemning many of the provisions of the Patriot Act. If you are concerned about this issue Patriots for Civil Liberties would like you to help us get the resolution passed by the Fayetteville city council.
Patriots For Civil Liberties
http://www.northwest-ark.com/pfcl/
Patriots for Civil Liberties is a citizens organization working to ensure the United States Constitution is maintained as Fayetteville's basis in law. Patriots for Civil Liberties has written a resolution condemning many of the provisions of the Patriot Act. If you are concerned about this issue Patriots for Civil Liberties would like you to help us get the resolution passed by the Fayetteville city council.
Right now there are three ways Patriots for Civil Liberties needs your help.
1. At the organization's website ( http://www.northwest-ark.com/pfcl/) Patriots for Civil Liberties needs your signature on the petition supporting the resolution that will be presented to the city council. (You don't need to do this if you have already signed a petition.)
2. Forward this email to your friends, co-workers and family.
3. Become involved in working with Patriots for Civil Liberties. The next meeting will be held May 2nd, at 7 pm, at the Presbyterian and Disciples Student Center, located at 902 W. Maple in Fayetteville.
The resolution that will be presented to the city council can be read at the Patriots for Civil Liberties web site. http://www.northwest-ark.com/pfcl/
Patriots for Civil Liberties welcomes your comments.
Send comments to patforcivlib (at) yahoo.com .
PfCL is a coalition of justice groups, including OMNI and the ACLU of NWA.

Good for them. If you live in the area, you can make a difference. Sometimes, these resolutions have passed by one vote from a council member. Your voice is needed. You'll meet a lot of people (some of the left, some of the center, some on the right) who are concerned about rule of law and the right to privacy. You'll be helping with a cause that's basic to what kind of a country do we want and do we want to live in a democracy or not. If you know anyone who lives in the area, please e-mail them about this.

Conner Oberst of Bright Eyes performed a song ("When a President Talks To God"?) on the Tonight Show last night. Janeane Garofalo highlighted it tonight on The Majority Report. I wanted to pass that on because besides Susan and myself, a number of members are Bright Eyes fans and because, for those asking where are the protest songs on network TV, you heard one last night if you watched The Tonight Show. (I don't. I saw Jane Fonda on David Letterman's show and prior to that, you'd have to drop way back for the last time I caught either show.)

The e-mail address for this site is common_ills@yahoo.com.