1) MAKE POVERTY HISTORY: THE G8 AND 'LIVE 8'
                  2) THE CRIMES OF RONALD REAGAN
                  3) THE RIGHT-WING CAMPUS "FREE SPEECH" WARS
                  4) GAY MARRIAGE SPEECH FROM SPAIN'S ZAPATERO
                  5) 4TH OF JULY: THE MEANING OF PATRIOTISM
                  6) TAKE ACTION: CAFTA & THE SUPREME COURT

*SPECIAL APPEAL*     *SPECIAL APPEAL*     *SPECIAL APPEAL*

• Will the Supreme Court become a rubber-stamp for the far-right? 
• Will Bush's "free market" schemes for Central America pass the House? 
• Will the G8 leaders be forced to implement policies that could literally save the lives of millions?

These are just some of the questions we address in this week's email blast. With so much at stake, the need for a smart and strategic Left in this country is greater than ever.  To that end, we here at YDS are making a special appeal for you to join us at our upcoming conference, "Building the Next Left," from August 12-14th.  We urge all of you to register on-line for the conference at YDS' website (www.ydsusa.org) and to help us spread the word about this weekend retreat at a castle in Ossining, New York.  This is an opportunity you won't want to miss.  If you can, bring a friend and other fellow activists from your school or community.  If you can't make it to the conference, find someone to go in your place and let us know how we can help you build YDS and the movement for justice in your area.  MORE INFO, FLYERS & REGISTRATION: www.ydsusa.org
 

1) MAKE POVERTY HISTORY: THE G8, DEBT CANCELLATION & LIVE 8
Over 200,000 people demonstrated against the G8 on Saturday at the same time as a few billion people around the world tuned in for the much hyped 'Live 8' concerts that took place in several different countries.  Stay tuned for future news on the G8 Summit, and the protests demanding that the richest countries in the world cancel the debt, promote "fair" not "free" trade, and increase aid to poor counties (particularly in Africa) in an effort to "make poverty history."  These and many other issues concerning the fate of humanity and the planet--from global warming and climate change, arms trading and militarization, privatization and corporate plunder--will come to a fore this week at the G8 Summit in Edinburgh, Scotland.

Debt Cancellation: Historic Victories, New Challenges
by Mark Engler (analyst with Foreign Policy In Focus and friend to YDS. He can be reached via his website at www.democracyuprising.com )
www.fpif.org/papers/0505debt.html

Inside The Murky World Of The UK's Make Poverty History Campaign
by Stuart Hodkinson (Associate Editor of Red Pepper and an activist-researcher)
www.zmag.org/content/showarticle.cfm?SectionID=1&ItemID=8181


2) THE CRIMES OF RONALD REAGAN
The sick, sad news is in.  Ronald Reagan has been voted the "Greatest American" in the on-line poll we mentioned in our last email blast over our favored Martin Luther King, Jr. and other finalists.  In order to prevent the further re-writing of history, we offer bellow a short and by no means comprehensive list of Reagan's cruel and dishonest track record:

• Abandoned the Roosevelt New Deal--which he admitted had saved his family during the Great Depression--in favor of a belief in the efficacy of massive corporate welfare;
• Described as "freedom fighters" the contra terrorist thugs and the religious fundamentalists in Afghanistan who would later become Al Qaeda;
• Encouraged deficit-causing supply-side tax cuts (derided by the elder Bush as "voodoo economics") --coupled with a tremendous boost in military spending--designed to bankrupt the government, pressuring it to reduce spending and thereby justify draconian cuts in social programs;
• Claimed that fighting a "limited" nuclear war was not an insane idea;
• Willfully ignored the burgeoning AIDS epidemic at a time when action could have saved millions;
• Vetoed a bipartisan measure to place sanctions against the apartheid government of South Africa;
• Cuddled up with the fascistic and anti-Semitic junta of Argentina, and moved to normalize relations with Augusto Pinochet, the tyrant of Chile;
• Argued that trees cause most pollution;
• Sent George Bush to the Philippines, where the Vice President toasted dictator Ferdinand Marcos for fostering "democracy;"
• Pursued a quasi-secret war against the Sandinista government in Nicaragua, violating international law and circumvented Congress, to support contra rebels engaged in human rights abuses and, according to the CIA's own Inspector General, worked with suspected drug traffickers;
• Covertly sent arms to the mullahs of Iran and courted Saddam Hussein, even after his use of chemical weapons against the Kurds.

3) RIGHT-WING STUDENTS & THE CAMPUS "FREE SPEECH" WARS
The latest from former YDS National Organizer, Daraka Larimore-Hall, on his blog, Hoverbike:
cadres of conformity
see! they even make us wear blue!
You can check out these and other previous posts here: http://hoverbike.blogspot.com


4) GAY MARRIAGE SPEECH FROM SPAIN'S ZAPATERO
The gay pride parades and protests of last month were rounded off with the news that Spain would become the latest in a small handful of countries to grant marriage rights to same-sex couples.  The fight for full equality had won another victory.  Yet as we celebrate these achievements, we note the considerable work ahead.  The queer rights events of June illustrate the need to step up the struggle against violence and hate (two people were stabbed by religious extremists during Pride in Jerusalem) and against the corporate cooptation of the movement (NYC's Pride parade was officially sponsored by Budweiser).

When the Spanish parliament a few days ago took its historic vote legalizing both gay marriage and adoption of children by gay couples, Socialist Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero -- who put the full prestige of his office and party behind passage of the gay human rights legislation -- made one of the most remarkable speeches ever delivered by a head of government anywhere in favor of full equality for those with same-sex hearts.
by Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero (Primate Minister of Spain)
http://www.zmag.org/content/showarticle.cfm?SectionID=91&ItemID=8208


5) AFTER THE 4TH OF JULY: THE MEANING OF PATRIOTISM
They Died for Their Country
by Paul Rogat Loeb (DSA member and author of The Impossible Will Take a Little While: A Citizen's Guide to Hope in a Time of Fear)
http://www.commondreams.org/views05/0701-20.htm


6) TAKE ACTION: CAFTA & THE SUPREME COURT
The battle for the Supreme Court has begun!
The news of Justice Sandra Day O'Connor's retirement has put a wide range of social justice activists on high alert.  Find out what you can do to prevent Bush from appointing an anti-choice, pro-corporate, anti-freedom replacement:
TAKE ACTION: www.allianceforjustice.org AND www.pfaw.org

CAFTA passes Senate, we need your help to defeat CAFTA in the House of Representatives!
A decade ago, the U.S. Congress traded away our economic future with back-room deals and passed the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). Since then over 700,000 jobs have been lost in the U.S. and 8 million more people in Mexico are living in poverty. The proposed Central America Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA) will extend this nightmare to 6 more nations. 

In the Senate,  CAFTA passed  in a very close 54-45 vote on June 30th.  WE HAVE NOT LOST!  This was the closest Senate vote on a trade pact since NAFTA.  The bill still has to pass the House, where opposition to CAFTA is much stronger.   We have always known that we will have to defeat CAFTA in the House, not the Senate. 

CAFTA came out of the House Ways and Means Committee on Thursday, in a 24-11 vote.  The House is expected to vote on CAFTA sometime within ONE WEEK. Representatives should be in their districts until Congress begins again on July 11th.   Please take some time during the next week to educate your representatives about what you think about CAFTA! 

Hear Bernie Sanders, the democratic socialist running for the Senate, explain why, "CAFTA is a Disaster for the People of Central America and the USA."

www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=05/07/01/1430242

TAKE ACTION: www.unionvoice.org/campaign/NoCAFTAhouse