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As St. Paul prepares for the Republican National Convention starting this Monday, the corporate media has focused primarily on the presumptive presidential nominees and their proclaimed agendas. But those demonstrating in the streets outside the major party conventions hope to influence those agendas. CNN estimates that tens of thousands of people will converge onto St. Paul next week. Among them are groups against the Iraq war and those calling for government funding of more productive and just endeavors, including welfare. Events include a life-size replica of a Guantánamo maximum security cell, bike and rollerblade brigades, and a satirical “Support Our Oil Companies” party. But while the activists have been organizing, police have concurrently prepared for their arrival. St. Paul police have constructed temporary detainment areas. They have …

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On day 3 of the Denver DNC, former president Bill Clinton addressed delegates, Barack Obama’s running mate Joe Biden accepted the Vice Presidential nomination, and Obama himself made a surprise appearance. Meanwhile, outside the convention hall Rage Against the Machine played to a crowd of thousands, followed by the largest demonstration of the week, an antiwar march led by Iraq Veterans Against the War. IVAW members demanded to meet with the Obama campaign and deliver a letter containing their demands to end the war and support veterans. They were met by a hundred Denver police clad in riot gear and armed with batons and tear gas. Eventually one IVAW member was allowed to cross the police line to meet with a representative of the Obama campaign. Major US …

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“The Murder of Emmett Till” by Subversive Historian Gabriel San Roman

Fifty-three years ago on this day in people’s history, a young African-American boy named Emmett Till was brutally murdered. On August 28th 1955, the young fourteen year old was kidnapped from his Uncle’s home in Money, Mississippi to be beaten, shot, and killed. Days early, Till, who was visiting from Chicago, walked into the local grocery store of the white couple Carolyn and Roy Bryant. Conflicting accounts say that Till either whistled or said “bye baby,” to Carolyn. News spread and alongside others, Roy Bryant and his half-brother murdered Till, tied a seventy-five pound cotton gin fan around the boy’s neck with barbed wire, and dumped his body into the Tallahatchie River. The main suspects in the murder were acquitted but later confessed …

“There are no warlike people, just warlike leaders.” — Ralph Bunche

- What activists have planned for the streets of Minneapolis next week outside the RNC
- A follow-up live report from FSRN’s Aura Bogado in Denver as the DNC begins wrapping up
- With the 3rd anniversary of Katrina approaching, local organizers describe their plans for commemoration in So Cal

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Russia announced yesterday that it would recognize the independence of two breakaway Georgian provinces over which it fought a minor war earlier this month. President Bush denounced what he called an “irresponsible decision” on Russia’s part. NATO’s decision-making body, the North Atlantic Council, also condemned the move and urged Russia to reverse its position. But Russian president Dmitri Medvedev defended the move saying that Georgia forced Russia’s hand by trying to gain control by force in the smaller of the two provinces, South Ossetia. He also said, “We are not afraid of anything, including the prospect of a Cold War.” The US intends to use a Navy destroyer and Coastguard Cutter to deliver what it’s calling a humanitarian shipment to the region this week. Georgia is …

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New York Senator Hillary Clinton addressed the Democratic National Convention in Denver yesterday earning widespread praise for her words of unity and conviction. While her main goal was seen as healing the rift between herself and Barack Obama, she also took a moment to critique Republican presumptive nominee, John McCain:

…we don’t need four more years of the last eight years. More economic stagnation and less affordable health care? More high gas prices and less alternative energy? More jobs getting shipped overseas and fewer jobs created here at home? More skyrocketing debt and home foreclosures, and mounting bills that are crushing middle-class families. More war and less diplomacy? More of a government where the privileged few come first and everyone else comes last? Well, John McCain says the …

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House Speaker Nancy Pelosi told “Meet the Press” on Sunday that she would consider offshore oil drilling as part of a comprehensive energy plan for the United States. The California Congresswoman conditioned her statements by reiterating that drilling is not a good option, but if used to invest in renewable energy resources it might be worthwhile. Pelosi’s statements are just the latest in the national debate over offshore oil drilling’s role in defining our energy future. Locally, the issue is playing out in Santa Barbara when its County board of Supervisors voted 3-2 yesterday to send a letter to Governor Schwarzenegger in favor of oil exploration and extraction in the region. The vote came after a public comment hearing in Santa Maria where both sides …

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King Faisal I of Iraq by Subversive Historian Gabriel San Roman

Eighty-seven years ago on this day in people’s history, the British installed Hashemite Faisal bin Al Hussein as the King of Iraq. On August 27th, 1921, the son of a leader of the Arab revolts against the Ottoman Empire became known as King Faisal I. By 1920 the British occupation was facing a popular revolt as a strong insurgency broke out in the Fallujah area. Trying to re-establish control, the British decided to create the farce of Arab monarchical rule through a plebiscite. The opponent of the King Faisal I was invited to tea by the British and then exiled soon thereafter. The British boasted that Arab rule arrived in Iraq with King Faisal I winning 96% of the rigged plebiscite. He would …

“Man is the animal that intends to shoot himself out into interplanetary space, after having given up on the problem of an efficient way to get himself five miles to work and back each day.” — Bill Vaughan