Early in the morning of May 12 an anonymously leaked audio recording of Tarek giving his statement at the sentencing hearing was made public and is now being circulated!

Tarek has been transferred again. Now he is in Manhattan at the MCC New York. We have no idea when he will be moved again. Chances are he will be placed in a federal prison, rather than these detention centers, very soon.

Background on the case: Criminalized for Doing the Right Thing [Chicago IMC] | If Tarek Mehanna is Guilty So Am I [commondreams.org] | Mehanna Verdict Compromises First Amendment, Undermines National Security [ACLU].

For the eighth year, anti-choice Walk for Life demonstrators bussed into San Francisco from across the state marched to protest the Supreme Court decision that legalized abortion 39 years ago. However, pro-choice activists celebrated the anniversary of Roe v. Wade with gatherings in the city's Justin Herman Plaza and in downtown Los Altos. Supporters of the Walk for Life West Coast event bemoaned the lack of news coverage given their march.

At San Francisco's pro-choice rally, speakers included Dr. Sophia Yen, who promoted the Silver Ribbon Campaign and Trust Women Week. Dr. Yen said, "The Silver Ribbon is the only ribbon I've ever worn." She also addressed the crowd in the San Francisco Peninsula city of Los Altos where a second rally was held.

February 4, 2012
WEST LOS ANGELES - Just one block South of a very urban section of Wilshire Blvd with 40 story high-rise buildings and often grid locked streets sits the Kuruvungna Springs. The Springs are on a part of the University High School campus. The Springs and the surrounding area were once the site of a Tongva village.

This last Saturday the Green Party and the Foundation hosted a tour that also included a Tongva blessing of the land. Fresh potable water is bubbling out of the ground and into small streams and pools. The water is said to have healthy restorative powers.

In 1992 a group of local environmentalists working together with Tongva descendants formed the Gabrienlino/Tongva Springs Foundation. The foundation was able to secure a lease for the land from the Los Angeles Unified School District for one dollar a year. The Foundation found funding, both private and public and has restored much of the site. The work goes on and there is still much to be done to preserve and protect the springs.

The foundation’s current lease expires next year and they are hoping to secure a new long-term fifty-year lease from the school district. Supporters are urged to contact the school district and encourage them to extend the lease and ensure the continued protection and ongoing restoration of this sacred site.

From the newswire:Protecting Sacred Sites: The Kuruvungna Springs by A

Spring Festival, also known as Lunar New Year or Chinese New Year, is beyond a massive holiday; it impacts everyone in China. Nearly a billion people will travel back to home during the so-called 40-day Chunyun (春运) travel period, the world's largest human migration movement.This year's Chunyun will be expected to make up around 3.16 billion passenger trips means around a round-trip for every people in China (population approx.13.3 billion).

While middle classes can afford to take airplanes for the holiday, for average Chinese migrant workers and students, the less expensive railroad trip could be their only chance in a few years to return their home for the holidays. Train tickets are always very difficult to buy during the holiday seasons, and the trip could be very long. Some people could take up-to10-days trip from far nothen China to far southern China to meet their family.

Holidays also mean the need to bring year-long savings from work to families; however, not everyone is so lucky. Many workers also need to fight for their back-wages as well, right before the new year many company bosses also could cheating their worker's wages, they need to fight to get their money back.

The author also comments on the impact of international politics in China, including the steady rise of China's right wing pro-US/anti-communist neo-con/neo-liberal forces. From the newswire: Journey to My Home--Happy Spring Festival (AKA Chinese New Year)! by Lee Siu Hin

Related: Austin Indymedia 2011 Year in Review

January 3, 2012: IN THE same week that Congress passed the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), sending it to Barack Obama to enshrine into law a provision allowing indefinite military detention of U.S. citizens, a federal jury in Boston delivered a guilty verdict against Dr. Tarek Mehanna, a Muslim American pharmacist charged with material support for terrorism. Coming in the wake of other Muslims around the country who have been arrested, accused of supporting terrorism, and locked up for long sentences, the December 20 guilty verdict against Mehanna on seven counts was a shocking and chilling reminder to his growing number of supporters and advocates that the "war on terror" has been putting Islam on trial for years.

Tarek's trial lasted nine weeks, but was the culmination of four years of FBI harassment, surveillance and intimidation against Mehanna from his days in pharmacy school. Islam was on trial from the first day, when the government aired the video of bin Laden. Judge George O'Toole's bias in favor of the government was evident. He allowed hundreds of photos and al-Qaeda videos into evidence that had nothing to do with Tarek, but rejected the defense's attempt to submit video clips of former President Ronald Reagan praising as freedom fighters the mujahideen who fought against the USSR invasion of Afghanistan in the 1980s and were funded by the CIA. [read more | photo from socialistworker.org]

On December 17, approximately 75-100 community members protesting the desecration of Rattlesnake Island, the spiritual center of the Elem Pomo community, marched to the Piedmont mansion of John Nady, the owner of Nady Systems, who has been one of those pushing for the development of the island as the location of two luxury-style vacation homes. Community members first circled up and held a rally near the Lakeview library branch in Oakland, then proceeded to march two miles up and into the hills of Piedmont where Nady owns a large home, and a short demonstration was held that featured speeches as well a spirited singing of the AIM song.

The Sacred Sites Peacewalk for a Nuclear Free World departed from San Luis Obispo on October 22nd and arrives in Watsonville on Thursday, October 27th. Marchers are staying in Santa Cruz county through Saturday before heading north to San Jose on Sunday. [...] The Peacewalkers write, "With the tragedy of Fukushima in our hearts, we will walk 15-18 miles a day looking into the safety of land and people along our route, the still-present danger of nuclear weapons, the poisonous nuclear fuel cycle and how to end the nuclear nightmare in California and worldwide. Local Schedule and More Information | 18th Annual Watsonville Peace and Unity March

From the press release: Today we take direct action to stop further desecration and destruction of the Holy San Francisco Peaks. We stand with our ancestors, with allies and with those who also choose to embrace diverse tactics to safeguard Indigenous People’s cultural survival, our community’s health, and this sensitive mountain ecosystem.

On May 25th 2011, sanctioned by the US Forest Service, owners of Arizona Snowbowl began further destruction and desecration of the Holy San Francisco Peaks. Snowbowl’s hired work crews have laid over a mile and a half of the planned 14.8 mile wastewater pipeline. They have cut a six foot wide and six foot deep gash into the Holy Mountain.

Although a current legal battle is under appeal, Snowbowl owners have chosen to undermine judicial process by rushing to construct the pipeline. Not only do they disregard culture, environment, and our children’s health, they have proven that they are criminals beyond reproach.

Four weeks of desecration has already occurred. Too much has already been taken. Today, tomorrow and for a healthy future, we say “enough!” Read more...

Despite efforts by Sacred Sites Protection and Rights of Indigenous Tribes (SSP&RIT) to negotiate a preservation agreement, the Greater Vallejo Recreation District has so far refused to abandon efforts to develop Glen Cove, a sacred Native American burial site in Vallejo, also known as Sogorea Te in the Ohlone language. With construction slated to get under way as soon as Friday, April 15th, SSP&RIT has called for an assembly to gather at 5pm on April 14 at Glen Cove, in preparation for a ceremony to honor the ancestors buried at the site at 8am the following morning.

Killeen, Texas – Several months after returning from a combat tour in Iraq, Fort Hood soldier SPC Kyle Wesolowski submitted an application for a conscientious objector discharge based on his Buddhist faith. Since that time, SPC Wesolowski has completed a rigorous examination of his beliefs by military authorities, including required interviews by a psychiatrist, a chaplain and an independent investigating officer. All of these officials recommended that SPC Wesolowski be discharged based on the sincerity of his beliefs.

read more from Austin IMC | Houston IMC Feature

Related: Gerry Condon urges: "FREE BRADLEY MANNING"

After a ten-year struggle for the rights of undocumented youth to regularize their status through higher education or military service, the DREAM Act was again shot down by anti-immigrant senators on December 18, International Migrants' Day. DREAM has gone through several changes since it was first introduced, each version weaker and more unpalatable than the last. Nonetheless, the youth-led activism surrounding the DREAM Act has been incomparable. An entire generation has learned the arts of activism, from lobbying and letter-writing to hunger strikes and civil disobedience, including a DREAM-focused shut-down of Wilshire Boulevard earlier this year. In Southern California, the immigrant rights community reacted to the tragic news of DREAM's non-passage.

From the newswire: International Migrants' Day Posada for Human Rights by Rockero | | DREAMERS WILL NOT GIVE UP by Dream Team LA | | DREAM Act Vote Will Not Be Forgotten by CHIRLA

Kwanzaa is celebrated annually from December 26th to January 1st. The Seven Principles of Kwanzaa are considered tools for addressing issues facing the African American community. In San Francisco, the cultural holiday will be held at nine different venues throughout the city. In Sacramento, the California Black Farmers and Agriculturalists Association will honor the founder of Kwanzaa, Dr. Maulana Karenga, during the annual California State Capitol Kwanzaa Umoja Ceremony.

Related: One More Hour for Political Caroling Season! | International Migrants' Day Posada for Human Rights

On Sunday afternoon, December 19, 2010, the local Portland community Rallied in Pioneer Square to condemn acts of violence and support the Salman Alfarisi Islamic Center and the Muslim community of Corvallis, who have recent suffered acts of terrorism at their mosque.

Both Muslims and Non-Muslims were invited to attend and stand up next to each other, showing unity and solidarity against any form of violence against anyone, regardless of faith, race, nationality or gender.

Each spoke of the need for love and unity, and as emphasized by Hajji Mikal Hammad Shabazz, director of the Oregon Islamic Chaplains Organization, standing for Justice, rather than merely opposing injustice. Speakers on hand were from the Portland City government, the Jewish and Christian Communities, the Tigard Police Department and the Japanese-American Citizens League. Read More & Pics | Video | Related: Peace rally to condemn Pioneer Square bomb Plot

District Court Rules For U.S. Forest Service in Save the Peaks Case; Plaintiffs will Appeal

The case known as The Save the Peaks Coalition, et al. v. U.S. Forest Service (USFS) was heard before Honorable Judge Mary H. Murguia and today (December 1, 2010) a decision was made.

The Court ruled against the plaintiffs claims that the final FEIS prepared by the USFS ignores thorough consideration of a number of critical health issues. The plaintiffs contend that a new and thorough FEIS should be filed by the USFS. If this reveals that the use of reclaimed sewage water is a public health risk then snowmaking should not be permitted for the Arizona Snowbowl on the San Francisco Peaks.

Howard Shanker, representing the Save the Peaks Coalition and additional plaintiffs, will file an appeal to the Ninth Circuit Court...

Pamela Geller and Robert Spencer visited Temple University on Thursday, courtesy of an anti-Islamic student organization. They were not well received, just the way it should be. Read More | Photos of rally outside | More Photos

Related: Hypocrite and Bigot Carl Paladino calls gays perverts and ponographers | Bostonians Confront Pro-Israel Conference at Boston Univerisity