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Tidbits - January 19, 2012 * SOPA Outrage Is Breaking the Senate's Websites (Sam Biddle) * Re: An Urgent Message from Portside: Save the Internet! (Ellinor Mitchell) * Stephen Colbert Asks Activist Scott Douglas Why Latinos In Alabama Are 'The New Negro' (VIDEO) * Re: Tucson Schools Bans Books by Chicano and Native American Authors (John Crawford) * Scholarship applications for student activists available * Re: Cult of Personality (Art Hoffmann) * Re: The Stolen War (Jon Cloke) ========== * SOPA Outrage Is Breaking the Senate's Websites Sam Biddle in Gizmodo.com January 18, 2012 at 1:14 pm http://gizmodo.com/5877219/sopa-outrage-is-breaking-the-senates-websites It looks like many of you really don't like this SOPA thing! And best of all, you're actually doing something about it: US Senate contact pages are being hammered so hard, they're crashing. Mark Begich (D - AK)- His site's down completely. Barbara Boxer (D - CA)- Her is loading like it's hosted on a Palm Pilot. And yes, Patrick Leahy (D - VT), you who co-sponsored PIPA - your site is all the way down. Dead. Gone. This might make it harder for the SOPA opposition to voice its dissent, but it also sends a message louder than any one email. But don't stop trying - keep the hammers hammering. ========== * Re: An Urgent Message from Portside: Save the Internet! Right on, collectively ! Ellinor Mitchell ========== * Stephen Colbert Asks Activist Scott Douglas Why Latinos In Alabama Are 'The New Negro' (VIDEO) Huffington Post January 17, 2012 http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/01/18/stephen-colbert-asks-acti_n_1212221.html On Monday's The Colbert Report, Scott Douglas, the Executive Director of Greater Birmingham Ministries, called Latinos the "new Negro." Making reference to Alabama's draconian H.B.56. immigration law, Douglas likened the treatment of Latinos in the state to the treatment of blacks a century ago. Stephen Colbert has taken a stand on the issue of immigration in the past year. After working in the fields for one day as an agricultural day laborer, Colbert testified before Congress, even breaking from his emblematic sarcasm for brief moments in order to express his concerns regarding immigrant rights. Colbert also devoted a segment in September to the practice of shackling undocumented pregnant women brought in on immigration-related offenses. Colbert introduces Monday's guest by saying that Douglas sees "anti-immigration as the civil rights issue of our time." ========== * Re: Tucson Schools Bans Books by Chicano and Native American Authors This is already ballooning into a major story. The Arizona government's plot against its migrant culture has gone on for several years, leading to this point. Because I direct a cultural conference in Albuquerque that has already taken up this issue in the past, I'm in contact with the Chicano Studies activists in Tucson. I'll be happy to send further materials along as they are of interest. John Crawford ========== * Scholarship applications for student activists available Please distribute widely ATTENTION STUDENT ACTIVISTS! Are you organizing for progressive social change? Leading student movements on your campus or in your community? If so, read on. The Davis-Putter Scholarship Fund has applications available for student activists who are building progressive movements for social change and will be enrolled in school during the 2012-13 academic year. Our website provides answers to questions about the Fund, the application process, and the students we support. If you know of students working for peace and justice, or if you have a list of activist contacts, please send this announcement along and refer potential applicants to the Fund's website: www.davisputter.org. Since 1961 the Davis-Putter Scholarship Fund has provided need-based grants to students who are involved in building movements for social and economic justice and are able to do academic work at the college level. Grantees are both graduates and undergraduates enrolled in accredited schools for the period covered by their grant. Although citizenship is not a consideration, applicants must be participating in activities in the US and plan to enroll in an accredited program in the US in order to qualify. The maximum grant is $10,000 and may be considerably smaller depending on the applicant's circumstances and the funding available. All the funds come from individual donors and there are 25-30 grants awarded each year. Grants are for one year although students may re-apply for subsequent years. Applications and the supporting documents -- transcripts, a personal statement, two letters of recommendation, a photograph, financial aid reports -- must be postmarked by April 1, 2012. Those selected to receive a grant will be notified in July. In solidarity, Carol J. Kraemer Director Davis-Putter Scholarship Fund www.davisputter.org ========== * Re: Cult of Personality This is foreign policy "out of focus" as the author has selective vision. The killing of Yemeni citizens by their US-supported president, the killing of Saudi citizens by their hereditary dictators, and the killing and brutalizing of Bahraini citizens and foreign workers by troops supplied by the Saudi dictators apparently does not qualify for any condemnation. We don't mind brutal dictators, as long as they are our brutal dictators. Brutality was recently a virtue when Syria and Libya were willing to torture suspected terrorists for us. Art Hoffmann Santa Ana, California ========== * Re: The Stolen War I'm a bit perplexed by Uri Avnery's confidence that Israel and the US will not attack Iran: "That's why the Obama administration put its foot down, and hand-delivered to Netanyahu and Ehud Barak an unequivocal order to abstain from any military action." The Obama administration? Putting its foot down? An 'unequivocal order' from President 'Bullshit loudly and carry a big blancmange'? He's got to be kidding! Jon Cloke ATTAC UK ========== ___________________________________________ Portside aims to provide material of interest to people on the left that will help them to interpret the world and to change it. Submit via email: [log in to unmask] Submit via the Web: http://portside.org/submittous3 Frequently asked questions: http://portside.org/faq Sub/Unsub: http://portside.org/subscribe-and-unsubscribe Search Portside archives: http://portside.org/archive Contribute to Portside: https://portside.org/donate